Oxalic acid - salt water

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Norton

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Here is a question for our chemists. Would a 3,5% oxalic acid solution be neutralised with a 3,5% salt water solution? The thinking here is alkali versus acid.
Thanks for your replies
Norton
 
.
Hardly not.

Salt = alkali + acid

you may neutralize acid with CaCO3 ,( calsium stone )

wood ash is very alkalic too.
 
Hi Roger,
Salt water is not an alkali, or at least if it happens to be alkali it's not because of the salt. So the answer is adding salt water to an oxalic solution would dilute it and make it less acidic but won't neutralise it.
 
1. salt is not alkali. as finman says you need something like calcium carbonate or good old bicarb.
2. % are quoted as weight/volume. however as oxalic and your chosen alkali will have different molecular weights then 3.5%:3.5% will not work. you need equal MOLAR quantities for simple acids but bear in mind that oxalic has 2 carboxyl groups to neutralise.
3. oxalic often comes as dihydrate so weight of crystals does not equate to weight of "pure" oxalic acid itself.
 
A normal salt solution is already neutral, acidic or basic by virtue of the characteristics of the particular ions, but the ions of the salt (anions and cations) are equal in numbers.

What it may do is buffer the pH.

The classical line for neutralisation is: Acid + base = salt + water only.

So you can see if the reaction were to be reversed (very hard work) the products would be an acid and a base in stoichemetric proportions.

If you add a solution of a metal salt of which the oxalate is insoluble, it will indeed precipitate away from solution all, or part of the acid , but will not be 'neutralised' in the chemistry form of understanding. It would simply be replaced with a similar amount of different acid (hydrogen ions and the acid radicle ion of the added salt).

I do hope you are referring to 'salt' in a chemical nature and not salt as common salt which is sodium chloride.

Regards, RAB
 
I was just thinking that it would be good to have an easy and ready neutraliser in case of an accidental spill. Guess we will just have to keep lots of water on hand as we have done in the past.
Thanks anyway for your knowledge.
Best regards
Norton.
 
data sheets suggest that it should be dealt with using inert absorbant material (spillage granules, fullers earth etc) to collect most then area of spillage washed down with water.
 
Here is a question for our chemists. Would a 3,5% oxalic acid solution be neutralised with a 3,5% salt water solution? The thinking here is alkali versus acid.
Thanks for your replies
Norton

NO




The solution to pollution is dilution
[however the answer is not to pollute in the first place!!]


:svengo:
 

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