How can I determine what is present in the net ionic equation?

Forget about this "hydronium ion", it only confuses students.

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To solve these problems, follow this guide:

How to solve ?NET IONIC EQUATION? problems:  

This is very simple.  But the answers are always long to write.  

All you do is separate each substance in the chemical equation, both the reactants and the products, into their ions.  (You have to KNOW the ions, so learn to recognize them by practicing).    Write those down, along with their charge.    If you have a subscript in the ion, you simply put it as a coefficient in front of that ion.  And that?s it.  

If you do it right, you will find that the number of ions on both sides of the equation will cancel out with the ions on the other side.    

Here is a short example:

Given the word equation:  (write the net ionic equation.)

           ? sodium hydroxide reacts with hydrochloric acid to produce sodium chloride and water. ?

Step 1:   Write the correct chemical FORMULA for each substance and put it into the form of a
               chemcial EQUATION:


    Ex:                 NaOH      +      HCl      gives       NaCl      +      H20

   

Step 2:   Balance the equation correctly:

    Ex:                 2NaOH     +    2HCl     gives      2NaCl     +      H20




Step 3:   Separate the formulas of each of the substances into their ions (you HAVE to recognize the ions),  
               and put their charges with them (forget about the numbers until the next step):  

    Ex:                  Na+    +   OH-     +    H+     +   Cl-     gives    Na+    +   Cl-      +     H+      +    OH-


               [Note that the ions on the reactants side are the exact same as on the products side of the equation]



Step 4:  Using coefficients, put the NUMBER of each ion you have:

   Ex:                   2Na+    +   2(0H-)     +    2H+      +   2Cl-   gives    2Na+    +   2Cl-     +   2H+    +  2(0H-)



Step 5:  Check your answer for correctness:

   Ex:             You should have the exact same NUMBER and KIND of ions on BOTH sides of the equation.

Note:  Forget about this thing called a hydronimum  ion, H30+.   All is does is confuse everybody.  Rather, deal with water like this:    H20   =    H0H    splits into ions like this:    H/OH,  or: H+  +  0H-.   Also note that the ?+? and ?-? ion charges are written as ?superscripts?, that is, to the upper right side of each symbol(s) for each ion.  And leave a lot of room to write this down, as the final answer gets pretty long!

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And it?s as simple as that!

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Your friendly public school chemistry teacher, now retired. (And lovin? it!).

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IF I get a chance, and remember, I'll come back later and give you the correct answer.  But I want you to try it first.  You won't learn anything if I just give you the answer, and you eventually have to learn it to pass the test!

{Sorry, but your answer is wrong....try again}

You are correct about the products, but there is an equilibrium involved and a trace of reactants are present even if they were added in equal numbers.  The solution should be slightly alkaline.