Identifying Acids and Bases

❖ It takes some experience to identify whether a substance is an acid or a base, and

whether it is strong or weak. You should memorize the strong acids and bases, and learn
the guidelines for recognizing weak acids and bases. For the Arrhenius acids listed, the
acidic proton is underlined.

Strong acids Strong bases

HCl hydrochloric acid LiOH
HBr hydrobromic acid NaOH Mg(OH)2
HI hydroiodic acid KOH Ca(OH)2
HNO3 nitric acid RbOH Sr(OH)2
H2SO4 sulfuric acid CsOH Ba(OH)2
HClO4 perchloric acid

❖ An anion originating from a strong acid is too weak a base (Cl –, Br–, I–, NO3–, SO42–, ClO4–),
and a cation originating from a strong base is too weak an acid (Li +, Na+, K+, Rb+, Cs+,
Mg2+, Ca2+, Sr2+, Ba2+) to display any significant acid-base properties in water.

❖ Some acids such as H2SO4, H2CO3, or H3PO4 are polyprotic, meaning that they have more
than one acidic proton. After the first proton is ionized, the resulting anion can act as
either an acid or a base (amphoteric or amphiprotic). Thus, the hydrogen carbonate ion,
HCO3–, can act as an acid, losing a proton to form carbonate ion, CO32–, or it can act as a
base, gaining a proton to form carbonic acid, H2CO3.
Weak acids Weak bases
Inorganic weak acids are essentially all the The conjugate bases of weak acids are
other acids whose names you have weak bases.
learned. Some examples:
HF hydrofluoric acid F– fluoride ion
–
HCN hydrocyanic acid CN cyanide ion
H2S hydrosulfuric acid HS– hydrogen sulfide ion*
HClO hypochlorous acid ClO – hypochlorite ion
HNO2 nitrous acid NO2– nitrite ion
–
H3PO4 phosphoric acid H2PO4 dihydrogen phosphate ion*
* These are amphoteric, so they can also act as weak acids.

© H. Taha, Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta (2023)

 ❖ So far, we have listed what are known as inorganic acids and bases. There are also
organic acids and bases, which are generally weak. You can recognize many of these
organic acids and bases because the molecules contain strings of carbon atoms. The
symbol “R” represents the “rest” of the organic molecule, in the form of groups of C
and H atoms, or perhaps simply a H atom alone.

Weak acids Weak bases

RCOOH carboxylic acids RCOO– carboxylate ions

R3NH+ ammonium ions R3N amines

CH3NH2
N
CH3NH3+

The problem set and the online assessment contain questions to test your ability to
recognize acids and bases. Please review these questions carefully, as you will be tested on
this.

© H. Taha, Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta (2023)