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How does sodium acetate make a basic solution 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.

Sodium acetate creates a basic solution in water through a process known as hydrolysis. When the salt dissolves, it separates into its constituent ions: the sodium ion ( $N a^{+}$ ) and the acetate ion ( $C H_{3} C O_{2}^{-}$ ).

In this aqueous environment, water molecules react with the acetate ions to form acetic acid and hydroxide ions ( $O H^{-}$ ). While acetic acid can dissociate back into acetate and hydrogen ions, this occurs only to a very small extent. Consequently, the solution retains a significant concentration of hydroxide ions, which causes it to exhibit basic properties, such as turning red litmus paper blue.1

Under the Brønsted–Lowry definition, the acetate ion acts as a base because it has a tendency to accept a proton to reform its conjugate acid, acetic acid. The resulting equilibrium constant for this reaction is termed the hydrolysis constant and is equal to the ion product of water ( $K_{w}$ ) divided by the acidity constant ( $K_{a}$ ) of acetic acid.23