In the lab we saw that although salts are the
products of "neutralization" reactions, water solutions
of salts are not necessarily "neutral", i.e., pH 7. Hydrolysis is the
reaction of an ion with water, usually to produce a solution that
is acidic or basic. 
Examining the observations from the experiment
it should be possible to generalize a simple rule for predicting
whether a salt solution will in fact be neutral or whether it
will be acidic or basic.
Why does this "rule" work?
There are at least two approaches to explaining hydrolysis, one relying on LeChâtelier's Principle, and one using the conventions of the Brønsted model.
