Name: ELAINE FAITH S.

MEJOS Date: 10/25/2021

Course & Section: BSMLS 1-J
Instructor: Gelacio M. Masgong

Portfolio #5: ACIDS AND BASES

Practice Exercise 5.1a

1. Identifying Bronsted-Lowry Acids and Bases. (The first item is answered as an example)
1. Which of the following species can be Bronsted-Lowry acids?
a. HF - is a Bronsted-Lowry acid because it contains a H.
b. HSO3- is a Bronsted-Lowry acid because it contains a H.
c. Cl2 – is not a Bronsted-Lowry acid because it does not contain a H.

2. Which of the following species can be Bronsted-Lowry bases:

a. LiOH - is a base because it contains hydroxide, OH- which has three lone pairs on its O atom.
b. Cl- - is a Bronsted-Lowry base because it has four lone pairs.
c. CH4 – is not a Bronsted-Lowry base because it does not have lone pair/s and does not
contain hydroxide.

Practice Exercise 5.1b

Writing and identifying conjugate acid-base pairs. (The first item is answered as an
example)
1. Determine the conjugate acid of each base:
a. F- = HF (F- + H+ gives HF as the conjugate acid. HF has no charge because a proton
with a +1 charge is added to an ion with a -1 charge)

b. NO3- = HNO3 (NO3- + H+ gives HNO3, nitric acid, as the conjugate acid. HNO3 has no
charge because a proton with a +1 is added to an ion with a (-) charge.)

c. NH3 = NH4+ (NH3 + H+ gives NH4+, ammonium ion, as a conjugate acid. It has a (+) charge
because a proton with a +1 charge is added.)

2. Determine the conjugate base of each species:

a. H2O = OH- (Remove H+ from H2O to form OH-, the conjugate base.)

b. HCO3- = CO3 -2 (Remove H+ from HCO3- to form CO3 -2, the conjugate base.)

c. CH3COOH = CH3COO- or CH3CO2- (Remove H+ from CH3COOH to form CH3COO- or

CH3CO2-, the conjugate base.)
3. Label the acid, base, conjugate acid, conjugate base in the following reactions
HCO3 - + NH3 ⇌ CO3 -2 + NH4 +
Acid Base conjugate base conjugate acid

a. HCl + H2O ⇌ H3O+ + Cl-

Acid Base Conjugate acid Conjugate base

b. HC2H3O2 + H2O ⇌ H3O + + C2H3O2 –

Acid Base Conjugate acid Conjugate base

c. HClO + NH3 ⇌ NH4 + + ClO-

Acid Base Conjugate acid Conjugate base

d. H2SO4 + OH- ⇌ HSO4 - + H2O

Acid Base conjugate base conjugate acid

Practice Exercise 5.2a

Identifying Acid-Base Strength (The first item is answered as an example)
1. Identify the stronger acid in each pair. Refer to Table on Relative Strengths of Acids and
Their Conjugate Bases

a. H2SO4 or H3PO4 Ans: H2SO4

b. HF or HCl Ans: HCl

c. H2CO3 or NH4+ Ans: H2CO3
d. HCN or HF Ans: HF

2. Use the Table of Relative Strengths of Acids and Bases (refer to resources) to answer the
following questions:
a. Which is the weaker acid, HCl or H2O? Ans: H2O

b. Which is the stronger acid, HCN or HPO42-? Ans: HCN

c. Which is the stronger base, H2O or NO2-? Ans: NO2-
d. Which is the weaker base, H2O or OH-? Ans: H2O
5.3a. Practice Exercise: Using Ka and pKa to determine the direction of
Equilibrium
Refer to the Worked Example for your reference.

1. Ascorbic acid, vitamin C, is needed for the formation of collagen, a common protein in
connective tissues in muscles and blood If Vitamin C has a Ka value of 7.9 x 10-5 , are the
reactants or products favored in the following acid-base reaction.

C6H8O6(aq) + NH3(aq) ? C6H7O6-(aq) + NH4+(aq)

Vitamin C ⇌ conjugate
base of Vit C
acid acid
4 9

Vitamin C (C6H8O6) is the acid on the reactant side with a Ka value of 7.9 x 10-5, thus, has a pKa
of 4. NH3, which is the base on the reactant side, gains a proton to form its conjugate acid NH4+,
which has a Ka of 5.6 x 10-10 and a pKa value of 9. Therefore, the conjugate acid, NH4+, has a
smaller Ka and higher pKa value than Vitamin C, making it the weaker acid (Equilibrium
always favors the weaker acid (higher pKa value).

C6H8O6(aq) + NH3(aq) ? C6H7O6-(aq) + NH4+(aq)

Vitamin C conjugate
base of Vit C
acid acid
4 9
lower pKa higher pKa

Thus, the products are favoured at equilibrium.

2. Use the dissociation constants to determine whether the reactants or products are favored
in the following reaction:
HCO3-(aq) + NH3(aq) ? CO32- (aq) + NH4+(aq)

acid ⇌ acid
10 9
( Ka=4.8 x10-11; pKa=10) (Ka=5.6 x10-10; pKa=9)

HCO3- is the acid on the reactant side with Ka=4.8 x10-11 and pKa=10 values. The base
of reactant side, NH3 gains a proton to form its conjugate acid NH4+, which has a Ka of 5.6 x 10-10
and a pKa value of 9. Therefore, the acid, HCO3- has a smaller Ka and higher pKa value than
NH4+, making it the weaker acid (Equilibrium always favors the weaker acid (higher pKa value.
 HCO3-(aq) + NH3(aq) ? CO32- (aq) + NH4+(aq)
acid acid
10 9
( Ka=4.8 x10-11; pKa=10) (Ka=5.64 x10-10; pKa=9)
higher pKa lower pKa

Thus, the reactants are favoured at equilibrium in this reaction.

5.4a Practice Exercise: Calculating [H3O+] and [OH-] in a solution of a strong

base.
Calculate the value of [H3O+] and [OH-] in a 0.01M NaOH solution.
(Note that NaOH is a strong base)

Since NaOH is a strong base, dissociation is complete, NaOH(s) --> Na+ (aq) + OH- (aq).
Therefore,[NaOH] = [𝐎𝐇 −] = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏 𝐌
To solve for [H3O+], Kw will be used.
K w = [H3 O+ ][OH−] = 1.0 × 10−14
Kw 1.0 × 10−14
[𝐇𝟑 𝐎+] = = = 𝟏 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟐𝐌
[OH− ] 0.01 M
Since [OH-] > [H3O+], NaOH is basic solution.

5.5a Practice Exercise: pH & pOH

Complete the following table by calculating the missing entries and indicate whether the solution
is acidic or basic. Be sure your answers are expressed to the proper number of significant figures.
[H3O+] [OH–] pH pOH acidic or basic?
1. 5.8 x 10–5 M 𝟏. 𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟎𝐌 𝟒. 𝟐𝐌 𝟗. 𝟖 𝐌 acidic
−𝟗 –6
2. 𝟏. 𝟔 × 𝟏𝟎 𝐌 6.2 x 10 M 𝟓. 𝟖 𝐌 𝟓. 𝟐 𝐌 acidic
3. 𝟓. 𝟕𝟓𝟒 × 𝟏𝟎 𝐌 𝟏. 𝟕𝟑 × 𝟏𝟎 𝐌 −𝟑
−𝟏𝟐 11.24 𝟐. 𝟖 𝐌 basic
Kw 1.0×10−14
1. [𝐎𝐇 −] = [H = 5.8 ×10−5 M = 𝟏. 𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟎 𝐌
3 O+ ]
𝐩𝐇 = −log[H3 O+] = −log (5.8 × 10−5 M) = −(−4.2 M) = 𝟒. 𝟐 𝐌 acidic because pH<7
𝐩𝐎𝐇 = −log[OH−] = −log 1.7 × 10−10 M = −(−9.8 M) = 𝟗. 𝟖 𝐌

K 1.0×10−14
2. [𝐇𝟑 𝐎+] = [OHw− ] = 6.2 ×10−6M = 𝟏. 𝟔 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟗 𝐌
𝐩𝐇 = −log[H3 O+] = −log (1.6 × 10−9 M) = −(−5.8 M) = 𝟓. 𝟖 𝐌 acidic because pH<7
𝐩𝐎𝐇 = − log[OH−] = − log(6.2 × 10−6 M) = −(−5.2 M) = 𝟓. 𝟐 𝐌

3. [𝐇𝟑 𝐎+] = 10−pH = 10−11.24 = 𝟓. 𝟕𝟓𝟒 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟐 𝐌

Kw 1.0×10−14
[𝐎𝐇 −] = [ +] = = 𝟏. 𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟑 𝐌
H3 O 5.754×10−12 M
𝐩𝐎𝐇 = − log[OH−] = − log(1.7 × 10−3 M ) = −(−2.8 M) = 𝟐. 𝟖 𝐌
pH = 11.24 basic because pH>7
 5.6a Practice Exercise: Organic Acids and Bases
1. Rank these compounds in terms of increasing acidity:

2. Rank these compounds in terms of increasing acidity:

Ans.

3. Identify the more acidic compound in the following pairs:

more acidic
more acidic

more acidic
more acidic

more acidic

5.7a Practice Exercise: Identifying Lewis acid and Lewis base

Identify the acid and the base in each Lewis acid–base reaction.
1. BH3 + (CH3)2S → H3B:S(CH3)2
In BH3, boron has only six valence electrons. It is therefore electron deficient and can
accept a lone pair. Like oxygen, the sulfur atom in (CH3)2S has two lone pairs. Thus
(CH3)2S donates an electron pair on sulfur to the boron atom of BH3. The Lewis base is
(CH3)2S, and the Lewis acid is BH3.

1. CaO + CO2 → CaCO3

As shown in the reaction, CO2 accepts a pair of O2- ion in CaO, in order to form the CaCO3.
The oxygen in CaO is an electron-pair donor, so CaO is the Lewis base. Carbon accepts
a pair of electrons, so CO2 is the Lewis acid.
2. BeCl2 + 2 Cl− → BeCl42−
The chloride ion contains four lone pairs. In this reaction, each chloride ion donates one
lone pair to BeCl2, which has only four electrons around Be. Thus, the chloride ions are Lewis
bases, and BeCl2 is the Lewis acid.
3. (CH3)2O + BF3 → (CH3)2O:BF3
Both of BF3 and (CH3)2O has 1 lone pair each. In this reaction, BF3 accepts a lone pair of
electron from (CH3)2O, which donates its lone pair of electron. Thus, BF3 is the Lewis acid and
(CH3)2O is the Lewis base.
4. H2O + SO3 → H2SO4
In this reaction, SO3 accepts a pair of O2- ion H2O, to form Sulfuric acid, H2SO4. Since
H2O an amphoteric substance which means it acts as both an acid and a base, water is an electron-
pair donor here. Thus, H2O is the Lewis base while SO3 is the Lewis acid.