Naming salts

The name of a salt is in two parts:

·         The first part of the name comes from the metal in the metal oxide, hydroxide or carbonate.

·         The second part of the name comes from the acid used to make it. The names of salts made from hydrochloric acid end in chloride, while the names of salts made from sulfuric acid end in sulfate.

How salts are named

metal involved

acid

salt

sodium hydroxide reacts with

hydrochloric acid

to make sodium chloride

potassium hydroxide reacts with

sulfuric acid to make

potassium sulfate

copper oxide reacts with

hydrochloric acid to make

copper chloride

zinc oxide reacts with

sulfuric acid to make

zinc sulfate

calcium carbonate reacts with

hydrochloric acid to make

calcium chloride

sodium carbonate reacts with

sulfuric acid to make

sodium sulfate

Here are the word equations and balanced formulae equations for the reactions involving hydrochloric acid in the table:

sodium hydroxide + hydrochloric acid   →   sodium chloride + water

NaOH + HCl   →   NaCl + H₂O

copper oxide + hydrochloric acid   →   copper chloride + water

CuO + 2HCl   →   CuCl₂ + H₂O

calcium carbonate…