Acids and alkalis

IGCSE
pH and indicators
● pH scale ranges from about 0 to about 14 and tells you how acidic
or alkaline a substance is:
pH and indicators
● We can classify substances as strong or weak acids/ alkalis based
on their pH
Universal indicator
● A mixture of indicators which change colour over a range of
different pH values
○ Can be used as solution or paper and the colour is checked
against a chart
○ It is a full range indicator but not particularly accurate
Acid alkali indicators
● Any substance that changes colour depending on pH can be used
as an indicator
Acids
● Acids are substance that contain hydrogens that can be replaced
when they are reacted
●
Acids
● When acids are dissolved into water they will dissociate to form
hydrogen ions (H+)
●
Acids
● When we measure pH, we are actually measuring the
concentration of the H+ ions in solution
● Acids can therefore be defined as sources of hydrogen ions in
solution and have a pH below 7
● Acids are typically made from non-metal oxides
Bases
● Bases are substance that will neutralise acids by combining with
the hydrogen in acids
● All bases have a pH greater than 7
● Examples of bases are metal oxides, metal hydroxides, metal
carbonates and ammonia (NH3)
Bases
● Some bases can dissolve in water to form alkalis and are defined
as sources of hydroxide ions in solution
Neutralisation - acids and bases
● Acids and bases will react together in a neutralisation reaction
● Metal oxides can react with acids to form a salt and water
Neutralisation - acids and bases
● Acids and alkalis will react together in a neutralisation reaction
● Metal hydroxides can react with acids to form a salt and water
●
Neutralisation - acids and bases
● Rewrite the equation to show all the ions present
●

● As the Na+ and Cl- appear on both sides of the equation,

they act as spectator ions so we can remove them:
Chemical tests
● We can use chemical tests to identify the following:
○ Gases
○ Water
○ Anions (negative ions)
○ Cations (positive ions)
Testing for gases
● Hydrogen gas:
○ A lighted splint will burn with a squeaky pop
○
● Oxygen gas:
○ A glowing splint will relight into a flame
Testing for gases
● Carbon dioxide gas
○ Turns limewater cloudy
● Limewater is Ca(OH)2 and reacts with
the CO2 to form white precipitate of
CaCO3
Testing for gases
● Chlorine gas:
○ Will bleach damp red litmus
paper or universal indicator
paper to white colour
○ Blue litmus paper will go red
first and then white
Testing for gases
● Ammonia gas
○ Will turn damp red litmus or universal
indicator paper to blue colour
Testing for water
● Water will turn white anhydrous
copper(II) sulfate blue
● Anhydrous copper(II) sulfate,
CuSO4 does not have water of
crystallisation and therefore is
white
● Hydrated copper (II) sulfate, CuSO4
5H2O does have water of
crystallisation and therefore is blue
Testing for cations - flame tests
● Flame tests can be used to detect specific cations in a compound
as many of them will burn with unique colours
○ A platinum or nichrome wire is dipped into concentrated HCl
and then into the salt to be tested
○ The wire is then placed into a roaring (blue flame) Bunsen
burner and the colour is observed
Testing for cations - flame tests
Testing for anions - test for carbonates
● Add dilute HCl to the sample and look for
fizzing
● The fizzing is CO2 gas being formed - can be
tested by turning limewater cloudy
● The ionic equations for carbonates reacting
with any acid is:
●