Acids and Bases

Acids and Bases

Did you know?

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 Acids and Bases
Did you know?

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 Acids and Bases
Did you know?
The Haber
process creates
ammonia (a
base), which is
used in fertilizer
for crops to
produce 70% of
the world’s
food: "Brot aus
Luft", as the Germans
put it, or "Bread from
air".
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 Nomenclature: Acids
1. Binary Acids (Hydrogen bonded to a simple ion)
The prefix “hydro” is used followed by root of the simple negative ion (anion), ending in
“ic acid.”

hydro…root of anion…ic acid

HCl hydrochloric acid

HBr hydrobromic acid
HI hydroiodic acid
H2S hydrosulfuric acid*
H3P hydrophosphoric acid*
HFhydrofluoric acid

*notice that the root of these anions is expanded for aesthetic purposes…
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 Nomenclature: Acids
2. Ternary Acids (Hydrogen bonded to a complex/polyatomic ion containing
oxygen)
 The root of the complex negative ion (anion) is used, followed by “ic acid”.
root of anion…ic acid

HClO3 chloric acid

HBrO3 bromic acid
HIO3 iodic acid
H2SO4sulfuric acid*
H3PO4phosphoric acid*
HNO3 nitric acid
H2CO3 carbonic acid*

*notice that the root of these anions is expanded for aesthetic purposes…
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 Nomenclature: Acids
3. Ternary Acids – Acids that contain a varied number of oxygen atoms
Recall from ionic nomenclature:
“per” means one oxygen more than standard polyatomic ion
 
“ite” means one less oxygen than standard polyatomic ion
 
“hypo…ite” means two less oxygen than standard polyatomic ion
 
The acid name for these compounds follow the rules for naming ternary
ionic compounds EXCEPT change “ite” to “ous”.

HClO4 perchloric acid

HClO3 chloric acid
HClO2 chlorous acid
HClO hypochlorous acid

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 Nomenclature: Acids
Nomenclature of Organic Acids:

For acids that contain a COO- group, the hydrogen is sometimes placed at the
end rather than the beginning.
 
Examples:

CH3COOH acetic acid

(sometimes written condensed as HC2H3O2)

C6H5COOH benzoic acid

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 Nomenclature: Bases
The nomenclature of bases is simple. With the exception of ammonia, just add
“hydroxide” to the name of the element in question. When writing formulas
for bases, follow the same steps as you would for ionic compounds

NH3 ammonia

NaOH sodium hydroxide

Mg(OH)2 magnesium hydroxide

Ca(OH)2 calcium hydroxide

Al(OH)3 aluminum hydroxide

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 Definition: Acids
Svante Arrhenius - defined an acid as any substance that produces a
hydrogen ion (H+) as it dissolves. These ions have a positive electric
charge.
 
HCl(g)  H+(aq) + Cl-(aq)
 

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 Properties: Acids
1. Acids have a very sour taste.
Examples: vinegar - acetic acid;
lemons - citric acid
 
2. Acids feel harsh on the skin (but best not to test this…).
 
3. Acids react with metals such as Mg and Zn to produce
hydrogen gas.

Zn(s) + HCl(aq)  ZnCl(aq) + H2(g)

 
4. Acids react with carbonates (CO32-) and hydrogen carbonates
(HCO3-) to form CO2.
 
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 Properties: Acids
5. Electric currents pass through acidic solutions and thus
they are electrolytes.
 
6. Acids turn blue litmus paper red.
 

7. Acids can be strong or weak.

 

8. Acids react with compounds containing hydroxide ions

[OH-] to form water and a salt (ionic compound) in a
neutralization reaction.

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 Ionization: Acids
Acids ionize (dissociate) to form a positive and negative ion
 

H2SO4(aq)  2H+(aq) + SO42-(aq)

CH3COOH(aq)  H+(aq) + CH3COO-(aq)

H3PO4(aq)  3H+(aq) + PO43-(aq)

HNO3(aq)  H+(aq) + NO3-(aq)

HF(aq)  H+(aq) + F-(aq)

Monoprotic acids (Ex: HCl) - Produce one hydrogen ion per molecule as they ionize.
 
Polyprotic acids (Ex: H2SO4 (diprotic) or H3PO4 (triprotic)) - Produce more than one hydrogen
ion per molecule as they ionize.
 
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 Definition: Bases
Svante Arrhenius - defined a base as any substance that produces OH-
ion as it dissolves in water. These ions have a negative electric charge.
(Note: Bases are also called alkalis).

NaOH(s)  Na+(aq) + OH-(aq)

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 Properties: Bases
1. Bases have a bitter taste. (Ever tasted baking soda?)

2. Bases feel slippery. (Ever washed with soap?)

 

3. Bases turn red litmus paper blue.

 

4. Bases are caustic. They can dissolve organic material (i.e.

bodies…). (Again, don’t try this.)
 

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 Properties: Bases
5. Bases react with compounds containing hydrogen ions [H+] to
form water and a salt in a neutralization reaction.

6. Bases can be strong or weak.

7. Electric currents pass through basic solutions and thus they are
electrolytes.
 

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 Ionization: Bases
Bases ionize (dissociate) to form a positive and negative ion:
 
NaOH(s)  Na+(aq) + OH-(aq)

NH4OH(aq)  NH4+(aq) + OH- (aq)

Ca(OH)2 (s)  Ca2+ (aq) + 2 OH-(aq)

Sr(OH)2 (s)  Sr2+(aq) + 2 OH-(aq)

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 pH Scale
pH Scale (pH = ‘power of hydrogen’)
- measures how acidic or basic a substance is
 
|_________________|_________________|
0 7 14
strong weak neutral weak strong
acid acid base base
 

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pH Scale

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pH of Common
Substances

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 pH Testing
There are several ways to test pH:

• Blue litmus paper (red = acid)

• Red litmus paper (blue = base)

• pH paper (multi-colored)
- each pH corresponds to a different color

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 pH Testing
• Universal indicator (multi-colored) – see below
• Indicators like phenolphthalein
• Natural indicators like red cabbage, radishes
• pH meters

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 Indicators
 Indicators are chemical substances used to identify the nature of a substance, i.e. acid, base or
neutral. The most useful indicator will generally give a sharp color transition.
 

Ex. Litmus paper Acid - red

Base - blue
 
Ex. Phenolphthalein Acid - colorless
Base - pinky/purple
 
Ex. Bromothymol blue Acid - yellow
Base - blue

Ex. Methyl Orange Acid - orange

Base - yellow
 
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 Neutralization Reactions
When acids and bases are mixed together, they neutralize each other in
a double displacement reaction. A salt (an ionic compound) and water
are ALWAYS produced.
 
Molecular, Ionic and Net Ionic Equations can be written for
neutralization reactions (but in this case, all compounds are aqueous
and dissociated except the water).
 
  

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 Neutralization Reactions
M: HCl(aq) + NaOH(aq)  NaCl(aq)* + H2O(l)
acid base salt water
 
 I:

N:

*The salt produced does not have to be table salt (NaCl)… It could be any ionic
compound and is dependent on the acid and base reacting.
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 Neutralization Reactions
Write the Molecular, Ionic and Net Ionic equations for the
reaction of aluminum hydroxide with hydrosulfuric acid.

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 Neutralization
Calculations
• Write a balanced chemical reaction

• Use stoichiometry to solve for the unknown (will be either the

acid or the base; not the products)

• Recall: C = n_ and n = CV
V

Note: Do NOT use C1V1 = C2V2! These are NOT

dilutions; they are chemical reactions

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 Neutralization
Calculations
Examples:
 1. What volume of 1.5 mol/L hydrochloric acid is necessary to
neutralize 35 mL of 0.80 mol/L potassium hydroxide?
 
 
 
 
 

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 Neutralization
Calculations
2. What is the concentration of a 50.0 mL sodium hydroxide
solution if it takes 8.0 mL of a 1.4 mol/L sulfuric acid solution to
neutralize it?
 
 
 

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