ACIDS, BASES AND SALTS

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ACIDS
 Acids are substances which produce hydrogen
ions when dissolved in water
 They may be classified based on the number of
hydrogens available for dissociation
 Monobasic acids have one replaceable hydrogen
 Dibasic acids have two
 Tribasic acids have three

 They may also be classified based on the nature

of their origin as well as their strength.

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ACIDS
 Mineral or inorganic acids contain a non-metallic
element or a polyatomic group and hydrogen
 Organic acids contain a carboxylic group which
has the only replaceable hydrogen in the
compound

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 IONIZATION OF ACIDS

 Adding acid to water causes it to ionize…ie ions are

formed
 All acids have hydrogen in their formulae

 When acids are added to water the acid molecules

ionize forming hydrogen ions H+.

 When hydrogen ion attaches to water it forms the

oxonium ion
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ACIDS
 Acids may be dilute or concentrated depending on the
amount of water it contains.
 When diluting an acid, the acid is ALWAYS added to
the water and NOT the water to the acid
 Degree of ionization is used to distinguish between
strong and weak acids.
 A strong acid is one which is completely ionized in
solution
 A weak acid is one which does not ionize fully when
dissolved in water
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INDICATORS

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ACID ANHYDRIDE
 This is a compound which reacts with water to
form an acid. ( an acid without water)

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PROPERTIES OF ACIDS
 They have a sour taste
 They are corrosive and change litmus to RED

 They are electrolytes and usually react with

reactive metals to produce a salt and hydrogen
gas (except nitric acid)
 They react with bases to produce salt and water

 They react with carbonates and hydrogen

carbonates to produce salt, water and carbon
dioxide

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BASES
 A substance which will neutralize an acid is called a
base
 These are substances which react with acid to give
salt and water only
 They are normally oxides and hydroxides of metals.

 Some bases are soluble while others are insoluble.

Soluble bases are known as alkalis.

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PROPERTIES OF ALKALIS
 Have a bitter taste
 Change litmus to BLUE

 Are electrolytes

 Feel soapy when touched

 React with acid to produce a salt and water

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PROPERTIES OF ALKALIS
 When an alkali is added to water, it dissociates or
ionizes to form hydroxide ions

 Sodium hydroxide is a strong alkali because it

dissociates almost completely to Na+ and OH- .Other
examples of strong alkalis are the metals of group one

 Ammonia is defined as a weak alkali because the

degree of dissociation is very small when dissolved in
water. Other examples of weak alkalis are calcium
and magnesium hydroxide
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PROPERTIES OF ALKALIS

 Aqueous solutions of alkalis have the ability to

conduct an electric current because of the ions that
are formed as a result of the dissociation

 Aqueous solutions of strong alkali are better electrical

conductors than those of weak alkalis, because of
their high degree of dissociation or ionization

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AMPHOTERIC OXIDES
 Substances which can act as either acids or bases
are called amphoteric
 Amphoteric oxides are oxides and hydroxides of
Al, Zn, and Pb.

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CLASSIFYING OXIDES
 Acidic oxides are oxides of non-metals, they react
with water to form acid and with alkalis to form
salt and water
 Basic oxides are oxides of metals, they react with
acids to form salt and water. A few basic oxides
are alkalis and react with water to form
hydroxides.

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SALTS

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 SALTS

 Salts are compounds formed when metal ions or

ammonium ion take the place of hydrogen ion(s) of an
acid
 In dibasic or tribasic acids, the hydrogen ions of the
acid may either be partially or totally replaced;
 A normal salt is formed if all the hydrogen ions are
replaced( examples of normal salts)
 An acid salt is formed if the hydrogen ions are partially
replaced (examples of acid salts)

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 PREPARATION OF SALTS
The method used to prepare a salt depends on
whether the salt is soluble in water or not

Salts Solubility characteristics in water

Nitrates All nitrates are soluble
Halides All halides are soluble except those of silver
and lead; lead chloride and lead bromide are
soluble in HOT water
Sulphates All sulphates are soluble, except barium
sulphate and lead sulphate; calcium sulphate
and silver sulphate are slightly soluble
Carbonates All carbonates are insoluble, except sodium
carbonate, potassium carbonate and
ammonium carbonate
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Hydrogen carbonates Most soluble
PREPARATION OF INSOLUBLE SALTS
 Ionic precipitation
 Two soluble salts in solution react to form a soluble
and an insoluble slat
 The general method for preparing an insoluble
salt is
 Choose two solutions, one containing the required
cation and the other the anion
 Mix the two solutions to form the insoluble salt as a
precipitate
 Filter the mixture and collect the precipitate as the
residue
 Wash the residue with distilled water and leave to 18
dry
 PREPARATION OF INSOLUBLE SALTS

 Ionic precipitation
 BaCl2(aq) + Na2SO4(aq) 
 KI(aq) + Pb(NO3)2(aq) 
 AgNO3(aq) + NaCl(aq) 
 Ba(NO3)2(aq) + K2SO4(aq)

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 PREPARATION OF INSOLUBLE SALTS

 Ionic precipitation
 BaCl2(aq) + Na2SO4(aq)  BaSO4(s) + 2NaCl(aq)
 2KI(aq) + Pb(NO3)2(aq)  2KNO3(aq) + PbI2(s)
 AgNO3(aq) + NaCl(aq)  AgCl(s)+ NaNO3(aq)
 Ba(NO3)2(aq) + K2SO4 2 KNO3(aq)+ BaSO4(s)

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PREPARATION OF SOLUBLE SALTS
 There are three main methods for preparing soluble
salts
 Direct combination
 The reaction of an acid with a metal, an insoluble base or a
insoluble carbonate
 The reaction between an acid and a soluble base

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DIRECT COMBINATION
 Salts composed of two simple ions such as metal
chlorides can be prepared by reacting two elements, a
metal an a non-metal, directly with each other
 The metal supply the cation and the non-metal
supplies the anion
 Examples;

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REACTION WITH AN ACID
 Soluble salts can be prepared by the reaction
between an acid and:
 Reactive metal

 An insoluble carbonate

 An insoluble base

 In these reactions, the final product will only be a

pure solution of the required salt in water if the
reaction has reached completion and no acid remains
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REACTION BETWEEN AN ACID AND A SOLUBLE
ALKALI

 Potassium, sodium and ammonium salts are prepared

by reacting an acid with an aqueous alkali.
 In this method, the acid is added to the alkali and the
reaction reaches completion when the solution is just
neutral
 The colour change of an indicator is used to
determine the neutralization point
 The technique used to determine the exact volume of
acid needed to neutralize a fixed volume of aqueous
alkali is known as titration.
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 GENERAL METHOD FOR PERFORMING A
TITRATION
 Measure a fixed volume of aqueous alkali using a pipette,
run it into a conical flask and add a few drops of indicator
solution
 Place the acid in a burette and take an initial reading add
the acid to the alkali until the neutral point is reached
 Take a final burette reading and determine the volume of
the acid added
 Repeat the titration until three volumes of acid are
ascertained. Average these values to determine the volume
of acid needed.
 Add this volume of acid to a fixed volume of alkali without
the indicator and evaporate the water from the solution
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