Chemistry

for Cambridge IGCSE

Chapter 11
Acids and Bases

Dr Zaw Oo
PhD, DFT (YU)
 Chapter 11
Acids and Bases

11.1 The nature of acids and bases

11.2 Characteristic reactions of acids

 11.1 The nature of acids and bases

What is an acid?

Acid: a substance that dissolves in water, producing

H+ (aq) ions – a solution of an acid turns litmus red and
has a pH below 7. Acids act as proton donors.

Corrosive: a corrosive substance (e.g., an acid) is one

that can dissolve or 'eat away' at other materials (e.g.
wood, metals or human skin).
• Vinegar, lemon juice, grapefruit juice and spoilt milk are all
sour tasting because of the presence of acids (Figure 1). These
acids are present in animal and plant material and are known
as organic acids (Table 1).
• Carbonic acid from carbon dioxide dissolved in water is
present in soft fizzy drinks. The acids present in these
circumstances are weak and dilute.

• But taste is not a test that should be tried – some acids

would be dangerous, even deadly, to taste!
Figure 1: Citrus fruits have an 'acidic' sharp taste
• A number of acids are corrosive. They can eat their way
through clothing, are dangerous on the skin, and some are
able to attack stonework and metals. These powerful acids
are often called mineral acids (Table 1).

Figure 2: Corrosion of an acid

 Table 1: Some common acids

Type Name Formula Strong Where found or

or weak used
ethanoic acid CH3COOH weak in vinegar
in ant and nettle
methanoic HCOOH weak stings: kettle
acid descaler
Organic
acids lactic acid CH3CH(OH)COOH weak in sour milk
in lemons,
citric acid C6H8O7 weak oranges and other
citrous fruits
 Table 1: Some common acids

Type Name Formula Strong Where found or used

or weak
carbonic acid H2CO3 weak in fizzy soft drinks
hydrochloric HCl strong used in cleaning metal
acid surface; stomach acid
Mineral
nitric acid HNO3 strong fertilisers and explosives
acids
sulfuric acid H2SO4 strong car batteries, fertilisers,
paints and detergents
Phosphoric H3PO4 strong anti-rust paints and
acid fertilisers
Indicators

Indicator: a substance that changes colour when added to

acidic or alkaline solutions, e.g. litmus or phenolphthalein

• The easiest way to detect whether a solution is acidic or not

is to use an indicator.

• Three commonly used indicators are litmus, thymolphthalein

and methyl orange.
 Table 2: Some common indicator colour changes.

indicator Colour in acid Neutral colour Colour in alkali

litmus red purple blue
methyl orange red orange yellow
phenolphthalein colourless colourless red-violet
thymolphthalein colourless colourless blue
• Litmus is extracted from lichens and is purple in neutral
solution.

• When added to an acidic solution, it turns red. This colour

change of litmus is the result of a chemical reaction.

• Substances with the opposite chemical effect to acids

are needed to reverse the change, and these are called
bases. Bases turn litmus solution blue.
 • Blue litmus paper changes
colour to red in acid solutions.
• Red litmus paper turns blue in
alkaline solutions.

Figure 3: The colour change of litmus in acid (red) and base (blue)
Universal indicator

Universal indicator: a mixture of indicators that has

different colours in solutions of different pH.

• When a universal indicator paper is used, the different

solutions produce different colours depending on the
relative strength of the acid or alkali (Figure 4).

• Solutions of the same acid with different concentrations will

also give different colours.
Figure 4: Changing the colour of universal indicator in solutions of different pH values
 The pH scale

pH scale: a scale running from 0 to 14, used for expressing the

acidity or alkalinity of a solution; a neutral solution has a pH of 7.

 acids have a pH less than 7

 the more acidic a solution, the lower the pH
 neutral substances, such as pure water, have a pHof 7

 alkalis have a pH greater than 7

 the more basic a solution, the greater the pH
Figure 5: pH meter for in use in the laboratory
 pH (potential of hydrogen or power of hydrogen)

A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution is known as pH

OR

pH is the negative of the base 10 logarithm of the activity of the H+ ion

• It is a much more reliable and accurate method of

measuring pH than the universal indicator paper

• pH – introduced by Danish chemist Soren Sorensen in 1909

• pH value – measured by pH meter

Figure 6: pH scale diagram with strengths of acidic and
alkaline solutions
strong acids weak acids weak bases strong bases

Figure 7: pH scale diagram with strengths of acidic and

alkaline solutions
Table 3: The pH values of
some common solutions