Can someone please explain the behavior of HCl/NaOH mixture as to why it started bubbling/dissolving when combined with Mg and with NH4Cl and why when blue litmus paper was dipped in the HCl/NaOH mixture it turned red. Also can someone explain the correct behavior that is supposed to be ellcited by the HCL/NaOH mixture and why? I would greatly appreciate it. Ive been pondering and thinking about these questions but Im stuck. Please help me. Thanks

The purpose of the experiment was to compare the properties of an acid (0.1M) and a base (0.1M NaOH) with those of water.I used 5ml of HCl and 5ml of NaOH. All it says is a small piece of amminium chloride.I hope this helps!!

I read your first post, the question Bob Pursley asked and your answer but there still is insufficient information to answer your question. You need to supply, as a minimum, the amounts of acid and base you used in each part of the experiment.

I used 5ml of a 0.1M solution of both the acid and the base

When HCl is mixed with Mg, it starts bubbling and dissolving because HCl is an acid and Mg is a reactive metal. When they come into contact, a chemical reaction occurs called a single displacement reaction. The HCl donates hydrogen ions (H+) to the Mg, forming MgCl2 (magnesium chloride) and releasing hydrogen gas (H2) as a result. The bubbling you observe is the evolution of hydrogen gas.

When HCl/NaOH mixture is combined with NH4Cl, it also starts bubbling and dissolving. This is because NH4Cl is an acid and NaOH is a base. When they react with each other, a neutralization reaction takes place. The H+ ions from the acid (NH4Cl) combine with the OH- ions from the base (NaOH) to form water (H2O). As a byproduct, ammonium ions (NH4+) and chloride ions (Cl-) form a soluble salt called NH4Cl. The bubbling is a result of the reaction releasing gaseous water vapor.

When blue litmus paper is dipped in the HCl/NaOH mixture, it turns red. This indicates that the mixture is acidic. Blue litmus paper is typically blue in color and turns red in acidic conditions, while it remains blue in neutral or basic conditions. The HCl in the mixture donates hydrogen ions (H+) to the litmus paper, causing the color change.

In general, the HCl/NaOH mixture should exhibit neutral behavior. This is because HCl is an acid and NaOH is a base, and when combined in equal ratios, they react completely to form water and a salt (NaCl). In ideal conditions, the resulting solution should have a pH of 7, making it neutral.

However, the observations you described (bubbling and litmus paper turning red) suggest that the HCl/NaOH mixture may not have been in equal proportions or may not have reacted completely. It's also possible that impurities or additional reactions occurred, leading to the observed behavior. Without more information about the experiment setup and concentrations used, it's difficult to provide a definitive answer.

In order to explain the behavior you observed, let's break it down step by step.

1. Bubbling/dissolving when combined with Mg:
When you combined HCl/NaOH mixture with Mg, the reaction that occurred is known as a single displacement reaction. Magnesium (Mg) is a more reactive metal than hydrogen (H) in HCl. As a result, the Mg atoms displace the hydrogen atoms in HCl to form magnesium chloride (MgCl2) and hydrogen gas (H2). The bubbling you observed is the release of this hydrogen gas.

The balanced chemical equation for this reaction is:
Mg + 2HCl → MgCl2 + H2

2. Bubbling/dissolving when combined with NH4Cl:
Upon adding NH4Cl to the HCl/NaOH mixture, a reaction called a double displacement reaction happens. The ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) reacts with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to form ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) and sodium chloride (NaCl). This reaction leads to the formation of NH3 gas, which releases as bubbles.

The balanced chemical equation for this reaction is:
NH4Cl + NaOH → NH4OH + NaCl

3. Turning blue litmus paper red:
Litmus paper is used to determine whether a substance is an acid or a base. Blue litmus paper turns red when it comes into contact with an acid. In the case of the HCl/NaOH mixture, it is acidic due to the presence of HCl. The HCl donates H+ ions in the solution, which reacts with the OH- ions from NaOH to form water (H2O). However, there is still an excess of H+ ions, giving it an acidic nature and causing the litmus paper to turn red.

Now, let's discuss the correct behavior that should be elicited by the HCl/NaOH mixture:
The HCl/NaOH mixture is designed to represent a neutral solution since HCl is an acid and NaOH is a base. Ideally, when the same amount of acid and base react, they should completely neutralize each other, resulting in a solution with a pH of 7 (neutral). This means that the litmus paper should remain unchanged, indicating neutrality.

However, in your experiment, it seems that the amount of HCl used was higher than the amount of NaOH, resulting in excess acidity and an acidic solution. Therefore, it did not exhibit the expected behavior of complete neutralization.

Next time, you can try using equal amounts of HCl and NaOH to ensure a more accurate representation of a neutral solution.

I hope this explanation helps you understand the behavior you observed in your experiment!