Final answer:
Salts can produce acidic, basic, or neutral solutions when dissolved in water, which depends on the acid-base properties of their constituent ions. The truth is that the pH of a salt solution can vary based on whether the salt's cation and anion come from a strong or weak acid and base.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that a salt can dissolve in water to produce a neutral, a basic, or an acidic solution, depending on whether its cation and anion are derived from a strong or weak acid or base, is true. Salts are ionic compounds formed from the neutralization of an acid by a base. The pH of the resulting solution is determined by the ability of the cation and anion to undergo hydrolysis.
Salts derived from a strong acid and a strong base, like sodium chloride (NaCl), form neutral solutions. For instance, NaCl, formed by the reaction of hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH), does not affect the pH when dissolved in water because neither ion (Na+ nor Cl-) is capable of hydrolyzing.
In contrast, salts containing the conjugate acid of a weak base or the conjugate base of a weak acid can cause the solution to be acidic or basic. For example, ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) dissociates in water to NH4+ (ammonium ion) and Cl- (chloride ion). The NH4+ ion can release a proton into the solution, resulting in an acidic solution. Similarly, if a salt contains an anion that reacts with water to form a weak acid and OH- ions, the solution becomes basic.