This is how my professor explained acidity of salts to me:
CuSO
4 is a salt formed when combining Cu(OH)
2 and H
2SO
4.
Cu(OH)
2 + H
2SO
4 CuSO
4 + 2H
2O
If you look at the two reactants, Copper(II) hydroxide is a weak base, but Sulfuric(VI) acid is a really strong acid. Because of that difference, a salt of those two would be acidic.
Example: kitchen salt(NaCl) is a salt of sodium hydroxide, a strong base, and hydrochloric acid, which is a strong acid. That makes kitchen salt neutral.
baking soda(NaHCO
3) is a salt of sodium hydroxide, again a strong base, and carbonic acid, which is weak. That makes baking soda basic.
None of the alkali metals have acidic salts, because alkali metal hydroxides are very strong bases. Most transition metal salts are acidic though, because transition metal hydroxides are relatively weak bases.