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PEZenfuego
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This is probably an easy question, but I can't get it straight and searching has not helped. So when salts go into solution they completely dissociate if they contain anions of strong acids or cations of strong bases, right? I'm still shaky on this concept though. Take Sodium carbonate for example. Na2CO3 completely dissociates because of the Na+, right? NaOH completely dissociates because of the Na+ also. H2CO3 does not completely dissociate. Here's where I am confused...
My understanding is that once Na+ dissociates it is done reacting. It just sticks around as a spectator. So why when I combine H2CO3 and NaOH do we get sodium bicarbonate? Don't the sodium ions want to dissociate from the hydroxide and call it a day?
How can we tell when these ions want to react? I am a little fuzzy. Thanks in advance.
My understanding is that once Na+ dissociates it is done reacting. It just sticks around as a spectator. So why when I combine H2CO3 and NaOH do we get sodium bicarbonate? Don't the sodium ions want to dissociate from the hydroxide and call it a day?
How can we tell when these ions want to react? I am a little fuzzy. Thanks in advance.