3.1.

12 Acids and Bases

Bronsted-Lowry theory

Acids are…

Bases are…

Therefore acid-base reactions involve the transfer of H+ ions / protons.

Identify the acid and base in the following:

a. NH3 + H2 O  NH4+ + -
OH

b. HNO3 + H2SO4  H2NO3+ + HSO4-

Some well-known reactions of acids:

Acid + Metal  Salt + Hydrogen

HCl (aq) + Mg (s)  +

Ionic:

Acid + Metal carbonate  Salt + Water + Carbon dioxide

HCl (aq) + MgCO3 (s)  + +

Ionic:

Acid + Base  Salt + Water

HCl (aq) + CuO (s)  +

Ionic:

Acid + Alkali  Salt + Water

HCl (aq) + NaOH (aq)  +

Ionic:

Monoprotic and diprotic acids

 Calculating the pH of an acid

pH – what is it?

To calculate pH we need to find the hydrogen ion concentration, [H+], and then simply put it into the
calculator and use the log button. Beware! Remember to input the “-“.

pH does not have a unit.

Acids dissociate or ionise when dissolved in water – one or more H+ ions detach from the molecule.

You can write this like this: OR

Strong acids…

Weak acids…

A strong acid A weak acid

 Calculating pH – strong acids
We can assume for strong acids such as HCl and HNO3 that all the H+ ions have dissociated.

Example: what is the pH of a 0.005 mol dm-3 solution of HCl?

2) Calculate the pH of these solutions of strong acids:

a. 0.001 mol dm-3 HNO3

b. 0.0002 mol dm-3 H2SO4

pH can be “reversed” to find [H+]:

3) What is the [H+] when pH = 3.4?

B
 Ka – how you can deal with weak acids
Weak acids are tricky as not all the H+ ions have dissociated – but we can do calculations if we treat it like
an equilibrium (which it is).

Example: Write the equilibrium reaction for CH3COOH (ethanoic acid) dissociating.

Now write an expression for Kc. We’re going to call it Ka from now on (as it’s acids).

 Calculating Ka
Every time a molecule of CH3COOH dissociates it produces one molecule of CH3COO- and one molecule of
H+. So that means the concentration of CH3COO- = concentration of H+.

Re-write the equation, replacing [CH3COO-] with [H+] (as [CH3COO-] = [H+] )

So little of the acid dissociates that the concentration of the weak acid at equilibrium is basically the same
as at the start, so for [CH3COOH] we can just use the concentration values from the question.

Input values: what is the value of Ka for ethanoic acid if the initial concentration of ethanoic
acid is 0.1 mol dm-3 and the concentration of H+ is 1.30 x 10-3 mol dm-3?
  pKa

pKa =

4) Calculate pKa for a. methanoic acid (Ka = 1.6 x 10-4 mol dm-3) and b. phenol (Ka = 1.3 x 10-10 mol dm-3)

pKa as a measure of acid strength

pKa can be “reversed” to find Ka:

 Calculating pH – weak acids

You will be given the value of Ka for the relevant acid. This allows you to calculate [H+] (after rearranging
the equation).

Example: Write the equilibrium reaction for CH3COOH (ethanoic acid) dissociating.

Now write an expression for Ka

Re-write the equation, replacing [CH3COO-] with [H+] (remember [CH3COO-] = [H+] )

Re-arrange the equation to make [H+] the subject.

 What is the [H+] when [CH3COOH] is 0.05 mol dm-3? (Ka = 1.7 x 10-5 mol dm-3)

What is the pH of a 0.05 mol dm-3 solution of CH3COOH?

5) Calculate the pH of the following weak acids:

a. 0.1 mol dm-3 methanoic acid (Ka = 1.6 x 10-4 mol dm-3)

b. 0.5 mol dm-3 phenol (Ka = 1.3 x 10-10 mol dm-3)

C

B
 Water
Water can react with acids like HCl:

Water can react with bases like ammonia:

This is called amphoteric behaviour – water can react as an acid or as a base.

Water can dissociate into H+ and OH-. [H+] = [OH-] so water is always neutral.

Example: Write the equilibrium reaction for H2O dissociating.

Now write an expression for Kc. We’re going to call it Kw from now on (as it’s water).

Kw

Someone has kindly worked out Kw for us and it’s 1.0 x 10-14 mol dm-3. This value is constant at constant
temperature, regardless of the concentrations of OH- or H+. However Kw varies with temperature – but
water remains neutral because [H+] = [OH-].

Calculate the pH of water at 298K (Kw = 1.0 x 10-14 mol dm-3)

 Calculating the pH of a strong base (or situations where [OH-] is known)
This is trickier than calculating acids because alkalis accept H + ions instead of release them, so pH = -log[H+]
can not be done straight off. How can we find the [H+] when it doesn’t release any H+? The answer is that
water does.

Alkalis release OH- ions when they dissolve in water:

e.g. NaOH 

Water releases H+ and OH- and forms an equilibrium which will be affected by the presence of “extra” OH -
ions. However, as it is an equilibrium, the equilibrium constant will not be changed by concentration
changes and we can use this to calculate the “remaining” H+.

Write the reaction for NaOH dissolving in water.

What is [OH-] if [NaOH] is 0.05 mol dm-3?

Write the expression for Kw

Re-arrange the Kw expression to make [H+] the subject.

What is the [H+] when [NaOH] is 0.05 mol dm-3? (Kw = 1.0 x 10-14)

What is the pH of a 0.05 mol dm-3 solution of NaOH?

6) What is the pH of the solutions of the following strong bases?
a. 0.001 mol dm-3 KOH

b. 0.0004 mol of NaOH dissolved in 100 cm3 of water

B
 Buffer solutions
Buffer solutions…

Making an acidic buffer

Mix a weak acid with its salt. You need high concentrations of both.

Ethanoic acid with sodium ethanoate is your best bet for an acidic buffer.

CH3COOH CH3COO- + H+

Adding a small amount of H+ ions will…

Adding a small amount of OH- ions will…

Making a basic buffer

Mix a weak base with its salt. You need high concentrations of both.

Ammonia and ammonium chloride is your best bet for a basic buffer.

NH3 + H+ NH4+

 Calculating the pH of an acidic buffer

Example: Ethanoic acid buffer

Write the reaction for ethanoic acid dissociating

Write the expression for Ka for ethanoic acid

Re-arrange the expression to make [H+] the subject

What would be the [H+] if a solution contained 0.05 mol dm-3 ethanoic acid and 0.05 mol dm-3
sodium ethanoate? (Ka = 1.7 x 10-5 mol dm-3)

What would be the pH of that solution?

7) A buffer solution contains 0.40 mol dm-3 benzoic acid, C6H5COOH, and 0.20 mol dm-3 sodium benzoate,
C6H5COO-Na+. At 25°C, Ka for benzoic acid is 6.4 x 10-5 mol dm-3. Calculate the pH of this solution.
8) Calculate the concentration of sodium ethanoate necessary to add to a solution of ethanoic acid with a
concentration of 1.0 mol dm-3 to make an acidic buffer solution of pH 4.70 (Ka = 1.7 x 10-5).
 Titration curves
For the sake of this exercise, let’s just say that strong acids have a pH of 0-1 and weak acids are 5-7; strong
bases are pH 13-14 and weak bases are 7-9. This helps us draw some sketch graphs to show what would
happen if you titrated these in combination and monitored the pH.

Adding ACID to BASE

Strong acid – strong base Strong acid – weak base

Weak acid – strong base Weak acid – weak base

Adding BASE to ACID

Strong acid – strong base Strong acid – weak base

Weak acid – strong base Weak acid – weak base

B
You may also be asked which indicator you should use.

Choosing an indicator

1) Draw a sketch graph (if not already done so) of the acid-base titration.
2) The pH range needs to be on the vertical section of your curve, preferably in the middle.
3) Choose an indicator and draw dotted lines across from the appropriate pHs to the curve. If this is
comfortably in the vertical section it is a suitable indicator.
4) Work out the colour change, making sure you get them the right way round! (If adding acid to base,
it will be the alkali colour to start with and change to the acid colour. If adding base to acid, it will
be the acid colour to start with and change to the alkali colour.)
5) “Indicator X changes colour from A to B at the equivalence point of the titration, as it has a pH
range of C. The pH range matches the vertical region of the curve.”
9) Is methyl orange-xylene cyanole solution or thymolphthalein a better indicator for a strong acid – weak
base titration, where the base is added to the acid? Explain your answer using pH ranges and suggest
what colour change would be observed.
Methyl orange-xylene cyanole has a pH range of 3.2-4.2 and is purple in acid and green in alkali
Thymolphthalein has a pH range of 8.3-10.6 and is colourless in acid and blue in alkali