December 30, 2024, 03:28:08 PM
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Topic: Expt didn't go as expected with litmus paper or not recognizing salt properly?  (Read 1402 times)

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Offline blackmamba24

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Hey so I had an experiment testing salt solutions with litmus paper. One of the salts was MgSO4 (aq). I know SO4 is the conjugate base of a strong acid so it won't react with water molecules, but since magnesium is the conjugate acid of a weak base, I thought it would react with molecules to make an acidic solution. However, that does not seem to be the case as my blue litmus paper stayed blue and my red litmus paper stayed red, indicating a neutral solution. Any ideas about this? Thanks!

Offline Borek

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Mg(OH)2 is not a weak base - it is a weakly soluble base. These are two different things.
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