Question

Solutions of sodium hydroxide and acetic acid are mixed by the reaction:
$NaOH+C{{H}_{3}}COOH\to C{{H}_{3}}COONa+{{H}_{2}}O$
Acetic acid is a weak acid. If equal volumes of equimolar solutions are mixed, the pH of the solution will be:
A. More than 7
B. Less than 7
C. Equal to 7
D. None of the above.

Answer 1

Whenever a reaction is going to happen between two different chemicals the formation of the product is going to decide the pH of the resulting solution. If the formed products contain acidic nature then the pH of the solution is acidic and vice versa.

Complete step by step answer:
- In the question it is given that solutions of the sodium hydroxide and acetic are mixed and result in the formation of the sodium acetate as the product.
- The given chemical reaction is as follows.
$NaOH+C{{H}_{3}}COOH\to C{{H}_{3}}COONa+{{H}_{2}}O$
- As per the above chemical reaction sodium hydroxide is a reaction with acetic acid and forms sodium acetate and water as the products.
- We know that sodium hydroxide is a strong base and acetic acid is a weak acid.
- Means whenever a strong base and weak acid are going to react with each other then the resulting solution will be basic due to the strong nature of the base in the solution.
- Therefore the pH of the resulting solution will be greater or more than pH 7.
The correct answer is option “A” .

Note: If a strong acid and weak base are going to react other then it leads to the formation of a chemical which is acidic in nature. If a strong acid and strong base are going to react each other then it leads to the formation of the chemical or product which is neutral in nature.