Why is the strong acid written in a net ionic equation? [closed]








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Strong acids dissolve and break apart into ions, so in a net ionic equation, why are they written? 




If the strong acid starts not in the aqueous phase, then you can't cancel out the ions that it dissociates into. Also, these ions may participate in a reaction, for example, neutralization with a base or precipitation via its conjugate base. In such cases involving double displacement reactions, the component ions cannot be both cancelled out.


Example 1:
$$\ce{HCl\_{(aq)} + NaOH\_{(aq)} -> H2O\_{(l)} + NaCl\_{(aq)}}$$
Only $\ce{Na+}$ and $\ce{Cl-}$ are spectator ions that could be cancelled out.


Example 2:
$$\ce{HCl\_{(aq)} + AgNO3\_{(aq)} -> AgCl\_{(s)} + HNO3\_{(aq)}}$$
Only $\ce{H+}$ and $\ce{NO3-}$ are spectator ions that could be cancelled out.


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