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Chemistry vocabulary · Acids, Bases and Salts

Salt

Meaning in chemistry, with examples

nounCore term

In chemistry, salt means: An 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.

In Turkish: tuz

How it is used

In chemistry 'salt' is a whole family of compounds, not just table salt. You hear about sodium salts, the hydrochloride salts of drugs and salt formation. Names come from the ions: copper(II) sulfate, potassium nitrate.

Example sentences

  1. Copper(II) sulfate is a blue salt that dissolves easily in water.

  2. The drug is sold as its hydrochloride salt because it is more stable and more soluble.

Common collocations

  • sodium salt
  • form a salt
  • hydrochloride salt
  • insoluble salt
  • salt solution
  • ionic bondThe strong attraction between positive and negative ions that forms when one atom, usually a metal, transfers electrons to another, usually a nonmetal. Sodium chloride is the classic case.
  • neutralizationThe reaction between an acid and a base that produces a salt and water and brings the pH closer to 7.
  • 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.
  • ionAn atom or group of atoms that carries an electric charge because it has gained or lost electrons. Positive ones are cations and negative ones are anions.

More terms: Acids, Bases and Salts

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