In the Classroom

Teaching BrnstedLowry AcidBase Theory

in a Direct Comprehensive Way
Jamie L. Adcock
Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-1600; Jadcock@utk.edu

As a teacher of general chemistry for more than 20 years,

I have sought to teach each subject efficiently and effectively.
One subject that provokes many questions and takes its toll
on student grades is the myriad relationships existing between
strong and weak acids, bases, and their conjugates. Adding
to students confusion is the inexactness of the terms strong,
weak, and very weak in regard to these species and how these
qualifiers affect the interaction of acids and bases with each
other and with water, itself both acid and base. Adding to this
the concept of the leveling effect that occurs when strong acids/
bases are placed in water and the non-interaction when very
weak acids/bases are involved can create chaos in the mind of a
student trying to make predictions and draw insight and solve
quantitative problems. The problem is that each relationship,
although simple, is linked to every other and we teach them
individually in separate sections and expect students to be
diligent and thoughtful enough to make the connections that
practicing chemists/scientists take for granted.
Spurred by the persistence of a particularly challenging
class during the summer of 2000, which demanded succinct
answers, I devised a figure (Fig. 1) that depicts or implies

-5

10

15

20

HI
I
HBr
Br
HCl
Cl

all the relationships simultaneously. The students found it

helpful, and compared with students in all previous classes
they improved their grades on the examination that was
heavily weighted with acid/base equilibria and buffer questions.
The Figure
The assumptions implicit in Figure 1 are (i) the use of
logarithmic pK values; (ii) the relationship that pKa + pKb =
pKw; and (iii) ignoring the leveling effect of water in order
to suggest it! Logarithmic pKa values for a series of inorganic
and organic monobasic acids including the hydrohalic acids and
the weak base ammonia are included. In each example the pKa
value for the conjugate acid and the pKb value for its complementary conjugate base are shown aligned with the numeric
scale above and with the corresponding symbol/formula at
the left. Most acids and their conjugates are considered dilute;
the one exception is water, which as both conjugate acid and
base is by nature 55.33 mol/L at 25 C. This skews the values
for the hydroxide and oxonium ions to 1.74 pH units greater
than 14 and less than zero. The pKa and pKb values tabulated
are derived from Ka and Kb values commonly quoted in general
chemistry texts (1, 2) and a general inorganic text (3). The
figure is descriptive, not quantitative, although an effort was
made to not misrepresent values for any chemical species. For
each species, the sum of the pKa and pKb values is 14.00. In
fact, this relationship was used to calculate approximate values
for the conjugate base strengths for chloride, bromide, iodide,
and nitrate ions.
Application of the Figure

HF
F
H3O+
H2O
HNO3
NO3
HClO2
ClO2
H2CO2
HCO2
HOAc
Ac
HCN
CN
NH4+
NH3
H2O
OH
Strong

Weak

Very weak

Figure 1. The numerical values refer to pKa values for the conjugate
acids (CA, ) and pKb values for the conjugate bases (CB, ). The
modifiers strong, weak, and very weak apply to either acid or base.
The divisions implied by the shading are somewhat arbitrary, but
encompass the 014 pH scale where pKa /pKb values apply most
importantly to buffers.

The concepts of strong, weak and very weak can now

be quantified for both acids and bases, although few strong
nonionic, non-hydroxide bases are commonly known. Quantification of these qualifiers allows important and definitive
inferences to be made about the reactions possible when acids
and bases in each category are dissolved in water. For example,
values for the hydrohalic acids HX (X = I, Br, Cl) are estimated
from thermodynamic considerations, since they immediately
react with water to form the hydrated oxonium ion. All
acids stronger than the oxonium ion are thus leveled to the
acid H3O+(aq) when actually dissolved in (reacted with)
water. The corresponding conjugate bases of these acids, the
anions I , Br, and Cl are very weak and will not hydrolyze.
A strong acid is one whose pKa is smaller than 1.74;
only a negligible amount of the original acid will remain after
mixing, and the reaction with water is effectively 100%. This
reaction is the leveling effect of water on acids stronger than
the aqueous hydrogen ion. A very weak acid is one whose
pKa is greater than 15.74 and it will not react with water to
effectively alter pH. This point allows one to logically explain
why the very weak conjugate bases of strong acids (iodide,

JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu Vol. 78 No. 11 November 2001 Journal of Chemical Education

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In the Classroom

bromide, chloride, etc.) do not hydrolyze; their pKb values

are larger than 15.74.
A weak acid is one whose pKa is between 15.74 and
about 2.6 (if one assumes 5% dissociation); it will produce a
non-negligible change in pH due to partial reaction (equilibration) with water. Conjugates of weak acids are also weak
bases and as a result undergo hydrolysis. Conjugate base pKb
values are displayed on the same scale with the conjugate acids
pKa value and utilize the same qualifiers. A strong base is one
whose pKb is smaller than 1.74; only a negligible amount of
the base will remain because the reaction with water is effectively 100%. This reaction is the leveling effect of water on
bases stronger than the aqueous hydroxide ion. A very weak
base is one whose pKb is larger than 15.74. Very weak bases
will not react with water to effectively alter pH; that is, they
do not hydrolyze if they are ions. The pKb of a weak base is
between 15.74 and about 2.6 (if one assumes 5% dissociation)
and a weak base will produce a non-negligible change in pH.
This layout illustrates the complementary nature of the
conjugates of acids and bases and makes the point that there
is essentially no difference in nature between the acids HCN
and NH4+ except in the way we, as chemists, have previously
classified them. The same relationship is seen with the conjugate bases CN and NH3. We thus explicitly describe the
hydrolysis of salts of weak acids and bases as simply a consequence of having an ionic or charged acid or base rather than
a neutral, molecular one.

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Conclusion
This figure enables a lecturer to unify all the Brnsted
Lowry acidbase concepts in a quantitative way. It is frustrating
when students who are introduced to acidbase behavior
memorize numerous specific equations as a problem-solving
approach. These students fail to see the exquisite unity presented
in the general concept. A few of my better students will realize
that two simple equilibria and two simple equations can be used
to solve all acid, base, buffer, and hydrolysis problems. Using
this diagram in my general chemistry classes as a handout
has resulted in more students realizing this unity of concept,
and that makes the effort worthwhile.
Acknowledgment
I would like to acknowledge the helpful suggestions of
George K. Schweitzer and the persistence and determination
of a gifted summer 2000 class in general chemistry.
Literature Cited
1. Hill, J. W.; Petrucci, R. H. General Chemistry, 2nd ed.; Prentice
Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1999.
2. Ebbing, D. D.; Gammon, S. D. General Chemistry, 6th ed.;
Houghton Mifflin: Boston, NY, 1999.
3. Greenwood, N. N.; Earnshaw, A. Chemistry of the Elements,
2nd ed.; Butterworth Heinemann: Boston, 1997.

Journal of Chemical Education Vol. 78 No. 11 November 2001 JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu