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How do acids and bases neutralize each other in water?

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sodium sulfate — acid–base reaction Sodium sulfate, also called Glauber's salt, is, like other salts, the product of an acid-base reaction.

In chemistry, the neutralization of acids and bases in water depends on the strength of the substances involved.1

For strong acids and strong bases, neutralization is characterized by the reaction between hydrogen ions (typically existing as hydronium ions, $H_{3} O^{+}$ ) and hydroxide ions ( $O H^{-}$ ) to form water:23
$H_{3} O^{+} + O H^{-} ⇌ 2 H_{2} O$

For weak acids and weak bases, neutralization is more accurately described as a direct proton transfer from the acid to the base. For example, the reaction between acetic acid and ammonia is written as:12
$C H_{3} C O_{2} H + N H_{3} \to C H_{3} C O_{2}^{-} + N H_{4}^{+}$

In these processes, the reaction often produces a salt, the nature of which—whether acidic, basic, or neutral—depends on the relative strengths of the reacting acid and base. While the Arrhenius theory traditionally defined neutralization as the formation of water from hydrogen and hydroxide ions, modern chemistry recognizes that the specific mechanism can vary based on the chemical properties of the reactants.13