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Chemistry vocabulary · Acids, Bases and Salts

Neutralization

Meaning in chemistry, with examples

nounCore term

In chemistry, neutralization means: The reaction between an acid and a base that produces a salt and water and brings the pH closer to 7.

In Turkish: nötrleşme, nötralizasyon

How it is used

Used in titrations, waste treatment and spill clean-up. You neutralize an acid with a base or the other way round, and the reaction is usually exothermic. The British spelling is 'neutralisation'.

Example sentences

  1. The neutralization of hydrochloric acid with sodium hydroxide gives sodium chloride and water.

  2. Check the pH after neutralization to make sure the waste is close to neutral.

Common collocations

  • neutralization reaction
  • heat of neutralization
  • acid–base neutralization
  • neutralize an acid
  • acidA substance that releases hydrogen ions (H⁺) in water or, more generally, donates protons. Its water solutions have a pH below 7 and turn blue litmus paper red.
  • baseA substance that accepts protons (H⁺) or releases hydroxide ions (OH⁻) in water. Its solutions have a pH above 7 and turn red litmus paper blue.
  • saltAn ionic compound made of positive and negative ions, usually formed when an acid reacts with a base. Sodium chloride is the best known, but there are thousands of others.
  • titrationA method for finding the unknown concentration of a solution by adding a solution of known concentration from a burette until the reaction between them is just complete.
  • pHA scale, usually from 0 to 14, that shows how acidic or basic a solution is. Below 7 is acidic, 7 is neutral at 25 °C and above 7 is basic; it equals −log[H⁺].

More terms: Acids, Bases and Salts

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