Considering the tube wherein NaOH (1 M) was added to benzoic acid.

a) what reaction would occur in the tube?
b) write a balance equation that supports your explanation above?
c) describe what would happen if u added HCL (6 M) to the same tube?

please help!! thank you

acid + base >> a salt plus water

In this case, is sodium benzoate a salt?

Add HCl? If the pH of the solution is 2 or less, then the sodium benzoate will react to form Sodum chloride (aq) and solid benzoic acid. So you have to add enough HCl to get the pH down to the range of 2.

a) In the tube, the reaction that would occur is the neutralization reaction between sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and benzoic acid. Sodium hydroxide, being a strong base, will react with benzoic acid, a relatively weak acid, to form water (H2O) and sodium benzoate (NaC7H5O2).

b) The balanced equation for the neutralization reaction between NaOH and benzoic acid can be written as:
NaOH + C7H6O2 → NaC7H5O2 + H2O

c) If hydrochloric acid (HCl) is added to the same tube, it will result in a new reaction. Hydrochloric acid is a strong acid, and when added to the tube, it will react with sodium benzoate to form benzoic acid and sodium chloride. This reaction is known as acid-base neutralization.

The balanced equation for the reaction between HCl and sodium benzoate can be written as:
HCl + NaC7H5O2 → C7H6O2 + NaCl

In summary, the addition of NaOH to benzoic acid will result in the formation of sodium benzoate, while the addition of HCl to sodium benzoate will yield benzoic acid and sodium chloride.