how do you get to the ionic equation for sodium hydroxide (aq) reacting with sulphuric acid.
To get the ionic equation for the reaction between sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4), we need to first write the balanced chemical equation. Here's how you can do it:
Step 1: Write down the balanced chemical equation:
NaOH(aq) + H2SO4(aq) → Na2SO4(aq) + H2O(l)
Step 2: Identify the ions present in the balanced equation:
NaOH dissociates into Na+ and OH-.
H2SO4 dissociates into H+ and SO4^2-.
Step 3: Write the full ionic equation, indicating all the ions:
Na+(aq) + OH-(aq) + H+(aq) + SO4^2-(aq) → Na+(aq) + SO4^2-(aq) + H2O(l)
Step 4: Cancel out the spectator ions:
In this reaction, Na+ and SO4^2- ions are present on both sides of the equation and do not participate in the reaction. Therefore, we can eliminate them from both sides of the equation.
The resulting ionic equation is:
OH-(aq) + H+(aq) → H2O(l)
This is the ionic equation for the reaction of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) with sulfuric acid (H2SO4). It represents the ions involved in the reaction and shows the formation of water (H2O) as a product.