Acid and Metal Hydroxide

Acid and metal hydroxide

When an acid reacts with a metal hydroxide a salt and water are formed. We have already briefly explained this. Some examples are:

• \(\text{HCl (aq)} + \text{NaOH (aq)} \rightarrow \text{H}_{2}\text{O (l)} + \text{NaCl (aq)}\)
• \(2\text{HBr (aq)} + \text{Mg(OH)}_{2} \text{(aq)} \rightarrow 2\text{H}_{2}\text{O (l)} + \text{MgBr}_{2}\text{(aq)}\)
• \(3\text{HCl (aq)} + \text{Al(OH)}_{3}\text{(aq)} \rightarrow 3\text{H}_{2}\text{O (l)} + \text{AlCl}_{3}\text{(aq)}\)

We can write a general equation for this type of reaction: \[n\text{H}^{+}\text{(aq)} + \text{M(OH)}_{n}\text{(aq)} \rightarrow n\text{H}_{2}\text{O (l)} + \text{M}^{n+}\text{(aq)}\] Where \(n\) is the group number of the metal and \(\text{M}\) is the metal.