Identify the major species in solution after the reaction of hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide.

The major species in solution after the reaction of hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide would be the sodium chloride or the table salt and water. The balanced chemical reaction is expressed as:

HCl + NaOH = NaCl + H2O

Answer: Na⁺, Cl⁻ and H₂O (l).

Explanations:

The major species in solution after the reaction of two salts are the ions in aqueous solutions and the liquid water.

You have to state the total ionic equation. This is how you do that.

1) Identify the reactants, kind of reaction and products:

acid + base → salt + water

NaCl + NaOH → NaCl + H₂O

So far, we have not dealt with the phases but the compounds

2) The phases are:

Since the compounds are dissociated you have:

HCl (aq) + NaOH (aq) → Na⁺ (aq) + Cl⁻ (aq) + H₂O (l)

You also must know that H₂O dissociate slightly into the ions H⁺ and OH⁻, so you also have this equilibrium:

H₂O (l) ⇄ H⁺ + Cl⁻, but the equilibrium is displaced to the left, so the water is maiinly H₂O (l).

Therefore, the major species are: Na⁺, Cl⁻ and H₂O (l).