To solve this problem, let's analyze the given chemical reaction between an acid and a base.
1. The reactants in the reaction are:
- [tex]$HNO_3$[/tex]: Nitric Acid (an acid)
- [tex]$NaOH$[/tex]: Sodium Hydroxide (a base)
2. When an acid reacts with a base, it typically undergoes a neutralization reaction. In such a reaction, the acid (proton donor) and the base (proton acceptor) react to form water and a salt.
3. For the specific combination of [tex]$HNO_3$[/tex] and [tex]$NaOH$[/tex]:
- [tex]$HNO_3$[/tex] dissociates into [tex]$H^+$[/tex] (hydrogen ion) and [tex]$NO_3^-$[/tex] (nitrate ion).
- [tex]$NaOH$[/tex] dissociates into [tex]$Na^+$[/tex] (sodium ion) and [tex]$OH^-$[/tex] (hydroxide ion).
4. During the neutralization reaction, [tex]$H^+$[/tex] from [tex]$HNO_3$[/tex] reacts with [tex]$OH^-$[/tex] from [tex]$NaOH$[/tex] to form water ([tex]$H_2O$[/tex]).
[tex]\[
H^+ + OH^- \rightarrow H_2O
\][/tex]
5. The sodium ion ([tex]$Na^+$[/tex]) and the nitrate ion ([tex]$NO_3^-$[/tex]) remain in solution as [tex]$NaNO_3$[/tex] (sodium nitrate), a salt.
[tex]\[
Na^+ + NO_3^- \rightarrow NaNO_3
\][/tex]
Thus, the overall balanced chemical equation for this reaction is:
[tex]\[
HNO_3 + NaOH \rightarrow H_2O + NaNO_3
\][/tex]
Given this detailed analysis, the products of the reaction between [tex]$HNO_3$[/tex] and [tex]$NaOH$[/tex] are:
[tex]$H_2O$[/tex] (water) and [tex]$NaNO_3$[/tex] (sodium nitrate).
Therefore, the correct answer is:
A. [tex]$H_2O$[/tex] and [tex]$NaNO_3$[/tex]
