Acids and Bases What Is an Acid and Base?
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Acids and Bases What is an Acid and Base? Acids and bases are special types of solutions Remember a solution is a mixture of a solute and a solvent Acids and Bases are extremely useful to us in our everyday life. Common Acids Citrus fruits – citric acid and ascorbic acid Dairy products – lactic acid Vinegar – Acetic acid (CH3COOH) Car Batteries – Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) Stomach Acid - Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) Acid Rain – Nitric Acid (HNO3) Coke – Phosphoric acid (H3PO4) Properties of Acids Taste Sour Electrolyte (Conduct Electricity) Have no characteristic feel Turns blue litmus red Produces hydrogen gas when reacted with a certain metals Produce carbon dioxide gas when reacted with carbonate compounds. Corrosive Common Bases Drain Cleaner – Sodium hydroxide Baking soda – Sodium hydrogen carbonate Soap – Sodium hydroxide Glass cleaner – Ammonia Antacid Tablets – Magnesium Hydroxide Properties of Bases Taste Bitter Electrolyte (Conduct electricity ) Feel slippery Turn red litmus paper blue Do not react with active metals Do not react with carbonate compounds Corrosive Solutions that are basic are also called alkaline Hydronium Ion An ion that forms when a hydrogen ion (H+) gets added to a water molecule + Hydronium ion = H3O In chemical reactions involving acids and bases the hydronium ion is often shown as H+ for simplicity + - HCl + H2O → H + Cl (does not take water into account) OR + - HCl + H2O → H3O + Cl Acid and Base Theories 1. Arrhenius Theory of Acids and Bases - Early theory proposed in 1884 - aqueous solution (aq) – a solution in which water is the dissolving medium or solvent. - Acid is a substance that adds hydronium ions + (H3O ) to an aqueous solution. - Base is a substance that adds hydroxide ions (OH-) to an aqueous solution + - - HCl(aq) → H3O (aq) + Cl (aq) (HCl = acid) + - - NaOH(aq) → Na + OH (NaOH = base) 2. Bronsted-Lowry Theory of Acid and Bases - Arrhenius did not explain how substances without hydroxide ions, in their formula, like ammonia (NH3) can be bases. Acid – A substance that can donate a proton (H+) to another substance. Base – A substance that can accept a proton (H+) from another substance. + - Ex// NH3(g) + H2O(l) → NH4 (aq) + OH (aq) NH3 accepts proton = base H2O donates proton = acid Strong vs Weak Acids The strength of an acid is determined by its ability to dissociate in water to produce Hydrogen/Hydronium ions. Therefore strong electrolytes are strong acids For example Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) is a strong acid because every HCl molecule dissociates into H+ HF is a weak acid because it doesn’t dissociate well in water Strong vs Weak Bases The strength of a base is based on the concentration of dissociated OH- (hydroxide ions) Therefore strong electrolytes are strong bases Strong bases can also be described as having a high alkalinity Those bases that are not soluble in water and don’t dissociate well are weak bases. NaOH (sodium hydroxide) is a strong base because it dissociates well into Na+ and OH- ions. Ammonia (NH3+) is a weak base because most of its molecules do not react with water to form ions. Strength Versus Concentration ❖The terms weak and strong are used to compare strengths of acids and bases ❖The terms dilute and concentrated are used to describe the concentration ❖For example it is possible to have a concentrated solution of a weak acid or base or a dilute solution of a weak acid or weak base. pH scale The pH scale is a number line that assigns number values from 0 – 14 to acids and bases. pH is measuring the concentration of hydrogen ions (H+ in the solution As the concentration of H+ increases the pH decreases Although pH is a measure of H+ ions you can also determine the OH- concentration because if H+ concentration is high the OH- concentration is low. Therefore a pH of 0 has a high concentration of H+ ions. Acids: pH value of 0-6 The lower the number the stronger the acid Bases: pH value of 8-14 The higher the number the stronger the base Neutral: pH value of 7 Water is neutral How would the pH of HCl change if water was added to it? The pH would increase By adding water to HCl you are decreasing the concentration of H+ ions. Since pH is inversely related to the concentration of H+ ions if H+ concentration decreases the pH increases. Indicators An indicator is a chemical that change color when they come in contact with an acid or base. Types of indicators 1. pH paper / Universal Indicator – This yellow paper will change color depending on whether it is an acid or base - The color corresponds to a specific pH so you can also determine the pH of the substance 2. Litmus Paper - Two pieces of paper where one is blue and one is red - Acid turns blue litmus paper red - Base turns red litmus paper blue 3. Phenolphthalein - Turns from a clear solution to a purple solution when a base is present 4. Red Cabbage Juice - Turns pink in an acid - Turns green in the presence of a base - Remains purple is a neutral solution Conjugate Acids and Bases The Bronsted-Lowry definitions of acids and bases provide a basis for studying proton – transfer reactions. Suppose that a Bronsted Lowry acid gives up a proton; the remaining ion or molecule can re-accept that proton and thus act as a base. Such a base is known as a CONJUGATE BASE Thus, the species that remains after a Bronsted-Lowry acid has given up a proton is the conjugate base of that acid. The species that is formed when a Bronsted-Lowry base gains a proton is the CONJUGATE ACID of that base. In general, Bronsted-Lowry acid-base reactions are equilibrium systems meaning that both the forward and reverse reactions occur. They involve two acid-base pairs, known as conjugate acid-base pairs. In this example: HCl is the acid in the forward direction because it + donates the H while H2O is the base because it accepts the H+. + H3O is the conjugate acid because it donates the H+ in the reverse direction, while Cl- is the conjugate base because it accepts the H+.