Flexi Says: When an acid and a base react, the reaction is called a neutralization reaction. That’s because the reaction produces neutral products. Water is always one product, and a salt is also produced. A salt is a neutral ionic compound. Let’s see how a neutralization reaction produces both water and a salt, using as an example the reaction between solutions of hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. The overall equation for this reaction is:
NaOH + HCl → H2O + NaCl.
Positive sodium ions from NaOH and negative chloride ions from HCl combine to form the salt sodium chloride (NaCl), commonly called table salt.
