Acid & Base

Arrhenius Theory
Acid: Substance that (dissociate) produces
H+ ions in water
HCl  H+ + Cl-

Base: Substance that (dissociate) produces

OH- ions in water
NaOH  Na+ + OH-

What about NH3?

 Bronsted-Lowry Theory
Acid: Substance that donates proton
Base: Substance that accepts proton
Conjugate Pair
 Conjugate system ALWAYS differ by ONE H+ ion. H3O+
and OH- is NOT conjugate system as the difference in
H+ is 2 not 1!
 Strong and Weak Acid & Bases
Strong
“Completely Dissociate (Complete reaction)”
HCl H+ + Cl- (or HCl + H2O H3O+ + Cl-)
H2SO4 H+ + HSO4-
HNO3 H+ + NO3-
 Here, HCl is not acidic in its MOLECULAR FORM but the H+ that is dissociated give rise to
acidic nature.

Weak
“Partially Dissociate (forms equilibrium) “
CH3COOH ⇌ CH3COO- + H+
H2CO3 ⇌ H+ HCO3-
NH4+ ⇌ NH3 + H+
HSO4- ⇌ H+ + SO42-
 H2SO4 (Sulfuric Acid) is called diprotic acid. It can produce H+ ion TWICE while monoprotic
acid such as HCl, HNO3, CH3COOH can only produce H+ ion ONCE.
 Diprotic ≠ Two moles of H+
 Amphiprotic vs Amphoteric
 Amphiprotic substance: A molecule or ion that can
behave as either a proton donor or a proton
accepter.
 Water is an example of an amphiprotic substance
 Can act as an acid (lose a hydrogen ion):
H2O + S2- ⇌ OH- + HS-
 Can act as a base (gain a hydrogen ion):
H2O + HSO4- ⇌ H3O+ + SO42-

Other amphiprotic substances are:

HSO4-, HCO3-
 Amphiprotic vs Amphoteric
• Amphoteric: that they have reactions as both acids and bases. This means that
the REACT with both Acids and Bases.
• Some metal oxides (like aluminum oxide) are amphoteric - they react both as
acids and bases. They react as bases because the oxide ions accept hydrogen ions
to make water. That's not a problem as far as the definition of amphiprotic is
concerned - but the reaction as an acid is. The aluminum oxide doesn't contain
any hydrogen ions to donate! But aluminum oxide still reacts with bases like
sodium hydroxide solution to form complex aluminate ions.
• With acid: Al2O3 + 6HCl  2AlCl3 + 3H2O
• With base: Al2O3 + 2NaOH + 3H2O  2NaAl(OH)4
• IMPORTANT!! All amphiprotic substances are amphoteric - since when they
donate a proton they are acting as an acid, and when they accept a proton they
are acting as base. This automatically means that amphiprotic substance can
REACT with acid or base this is due to the fact that they can change their
acid/basic character
• On the other hand, not all amphoteric substances are amphiprotic, because
only Bronsted & Lowry acids and bases can accept and donate protons.
• Example, Al2O3 cannot be explained through Bronsted-Lowry Theory because
there are NO protons (H+) in the structure. Yet this REACT with acid and base!
making it AMPHOTERIC, NOT AMPHIPROTIC!!! AMPHIPROTIC is more specific and
applies only in Bronsted- Lowry Acid/Base.
 The Dissociation of Water and the
pH Scale
H2O ⇌ H+ + OH-
H2O + H2O ⇌ H3O+ + OH−
Kw = [H3O+][OH-]
At 298K, 1atm pressure, [H+] = 10-7 moldm-3 AND [OH-] = 10-7 moldm-3
Therefore Kw = 10-14 mol2dm-6
 pH scale = -log [H+], pH decreases, [H+] increases, stronger acid
 pOH scale = -log [OH-], pOH decreases, [OH-] increases, stronger base
 pH + pOH = pKw = 14
 Ka and Kb
• Ka = Acidity Dissociation Constant
• Kb = Base Dissociation Constant
• Quantitative measure of the strength of an acid/base
in solution. It is the equilibrium constant for a
chemical reaction known as dissociation in the
context of acid–base reactions.

pKa = -log Ka (higher the value of Ka, stronger acid, lower the pKa)
pKb = -log Kb (higher the value of Kb, stronger base, lower the pKb)
pKa + pKb = pKw = 14
 Effect of Temperature on pH scale
In IB, we assume that all acid & base
reactions are happening at 298K, 1
atm pressure. This means that the pH
scale will always be 0-14 scale!
H2O ⇌ H+ + OH- (Endo)
According to Le Chatelier's
principle increase in temperature
favours to the endothermic
direction vice versa. Increase in
temperature will shift to the
forward direction.
This means pH will decrease as
the concentration of H+ will
increase at higher temperature.
Does this changes the acidity of
water? NO!
Same amount of OH-
concentration is increased at
higher temperature so that
NEUTRAL point will be the same
BUT pH Scale will become
narrower!
Chemistry
Acid & Base
Paper 1 Preparations
Which of these is not a true statement?
A. All Lewis bases are also Bronsted-Lowry bases
B. All Lewis acids contain hydrogen
C. All Bronsted-Lowry acids contain hydrogen.
D. According to the Bronsted-Lowry theory, water is both an acid and a base

Which of these species is not amphoteric?

A. Al2O3
B. HS
C. NH 3
D. HPO 4 -

The following two reactions have equilibrium constants greater than 1.

H 3 PO 4 + HCO 3 - ⇌ H 2 PO 4 - + H 2 CO 3
H 3 O+ + H 2 PO 4 - ⇌ H 2 O + H 3 PO 4
On the basis of these reactions, which of the following is the strongest acid?
A. H 3 O+
B. H 2 CO 3
C. H 3 PO 4
D. H 2 PO 4 -

For the following acid-base reaction:

HPO 4 2-(aq) + NH 4 + (aq) ⇌ H 2 PO 4 -(aq) + NH 3 (aq)
The Conjugate Acid is:
A. HPO 4 2-
B. NH 4 +
C. NH 3
D. H 2 PO 4 –
While the Arrhenius and Bronsted-Lowry theories of acids are very similar, the two theories
view bases quite differently. Which of the following best describes the base for the two
theories?
Arrhenius Theory Bases Bronsted-Lowry Theory Bases
+
A. Accept H Increase [OH-] in Solution
B. Donate H+ Increase [OH-] in Solution
C. Increase [OH-] in Solution Accept H+
D. Decrease [OH-] in Solution Donate H+

HF + HCO 3 - ⇌ F- + H 2 CO 3
Identify the bases in the reaction.
A. HF and HCO 3 –
B. F - and H 2 CO 3
C. HF and H 2 CO 3
D. F- and HCO 3 –
Consider the following equation. HF + HCO 3 - ⇌ F- + H 2 CO 3
If the K A for HF = 6.7 x 10 -4 and the K A for H 2 CO 3 = 4.4 x 10 -7, which direction will the
reaction favor?
A. towards the products
B. towards the reactants
C. neither toward the reactants nor toward the products since an equilibrium is established
D. It is impossible to say.

Benzoic acid ionizes according to the reaction:

C 6 H 5 COOH ⇌ H+ + C 6 H 5 COO-.
What would be the effect on the concentration of C 6 H 5 COO - if some OH - was added to the
equilibrium?
A. [C 6 H 5 COO-] would increase
B. [C 6 H 5 COO-] would decrease
C. [C 6 H 5 COO-] remain the same
D. It is impossible to predict any effect

The pH of a solution of ferric nitrate is not 7.00. This fact is best explained by the equation:
A. Fe(OH 2 ) 6 3+ + H 2 O <=> H 3 O+ + Fe(OH 2 ) 5 OH2+
B. H 3 O+ + OH- <=> 2H 2 O
C. Fe3+ + 3H 2 O <=> Fe(OH) 3 + 3H+
D. HNO 3 + H 2 O <=> H 3 O+ + NO 3 -

What does the strength of an acid depend upon?

A. concentration of the acid
B. time it takes the acid to neutralize a base
C. extent to which the acid ionizes
D. volume of the acid

Which substance can be called an Arrhenius base?

A. CH 3 OH
B. HBr
C. KOH
D. NH 3
Paper 2 Preparations
Question 1
i) State with state symbols the dissociation reaction of water at 298K [1]

ii) The ionic product of water is 3.5 × 10–14 at 300K. Predict with reason whether the
pH of water at 300K would be lower or greater than pH 7. [2]

Question 2
The pH of soluble acid HA, is 4.52 at 300K.
HA + H 2 O ⇌ H 3 O+ + A-

i) Identify two conjugate pairs from the above reaction [1]

ii) Assuming that the reaction of A with water is an exothermic process, explain with
reason what would happen to the pH if the temperature was increased to 400K. [2]

iii) Define the term amphiprotic with use of appropriate examples. Identify the
amphiprotic substance from the above reaction. [2]