Department of Chemical Sciences

Dr. M. Mnguni
Office: JOB 3200A
Email: mmguni@uj.ac.za

Optometry Theory
Module code: CEM1CA1
Year: 2024

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 TEST DATES
THEORY TEST

TEST 2:
DATE: 22 April 2024
TIME: 8:00
 S A LT S
E S A N D
S , BA S
ACID
 Acids, bases, and salts

 What is an acid? Give examples of weak and strong acids.

 What is a base? Give examples of weak and strong bases.
 Calculate the pH of a solution containing [H+] = 0.015.
 Acids,
Sodium bicarbonate Bases, & Sodium chloride

Malic acid
Salts Citric acid
 Acids and Bases

 We encounter acids and bases almost every day (in our human bodies, detergent and medicinal
products…..)

Table 1: Examples of acids and bases found in various products.

Acids Bases
1. Hypochlorous acid (bleach) 1. Sodium hydroxide (caustic soda)
(soap)
2. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) (fruit juice) 2. Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)

3. Amino acids (Essential for life) 3. Calcium carbonate and magnesium

carbonate (antacid) (Eno and Rennie
tablets to neutralize gastric acid in the
stomach)
4. Fatty acids (energy reservation)

5. Aspirin (medicine, relief pain)

 What is an acid?

Arrhenius:
 An acid is a substance that dissolves in water and increases the
concentration of H+ ([H+]) ions in solution.

Example:
 Acids ionize in water according to the following reaction:

H2O(l)
HCl(g) H+(aq) + Cl-(aq)
 Therefore, HCl is an Arrhenius acid.

Exercise 1:
 Give other examples of Arrhenius acids and provide chemical equations.
 What is a base?

Arrhenius:
 A base is a substance that dissolves in water and increases the
concentration of OH- ions in solution.

Example:
H2O(l)
NaOH(s) Na+(aq) + OH-(aq)

Exercise 2:
 Give other examples of Arrhenius base and provide chemical equations.
 Brønsted–Lowry Acid and Base

The concept is based on the transfer of H+ from one substance to another.

According to Brønsted-Lowry:
 An acid is a substance (molecule or ion) that donates a proton to
another substance.
 A base is a substance that accept a proton.

Example:
HCl(g) + H2O(l) → Cl-(aq) + H3O+(aq)
 Brønsted-Lowry acids and bases

Table 2: Examples of conjugate acid-base pairs.

Acids Bases
CH3CO2H (acetic acid) CH3CO2- (acetate anion)
HSO4- (bisulfate ion) SO42- (sulfate ions)
NH4+ (ammonium ion) NH3 (ammonia)
NH3 (ammonia) NH2- (amide ion)
H2O (water) OH- (hydroxide ion)
H3O+ (hydronium ion) H2O (water)
 Lewis Acid and Base

Lewis theory:
Lewis acid is a substance that can accept a pair of nonbonding electrons.
Lewis base is a substance that can donate a pair of nonbonding electrons.

Example:

H+(aq) + OH-(aq) ↔ H2O(l)

 ACIDS

Properties of acid:
 Acids have a sour taste (lemon)
 Acids react with organic compounds (known as indicators) to
bring a colour change in solution, e.g. blue litmus paper turns to
red in the presence of H+ ions (from the acid).
 Acids react with metal hydroxides (bases) to produce water and
salts. The reaction is known as neutralization.

 Acids can exist in liquids (H2SO4), solids (citric acid), and gases
(HCl(g)).
 Acids

Strong acids
 Strong acids completely transfer their protons to water, leaving no
undissociated molecules in the solution.
 Strong acid burns the skin and destroys fabric.
Examples:
HCl(g) → H+(aq) + Cl-(aq)

H2SO4(aq) → 2H+(aq) + SO42-(aq)

HNO3(aq) → H+(aq) + NO3-(aq)

Exercise 3: write the names and ionization reactions of the following strong
acids.

(a) HBr, (b) HI, and (c) HClO4

 Acids

Weak acids:
 Weak acids only partially dissociate in solution and therefore exist in
solution as a mixture of acid molecules and their constituent ions.
 Weak acids are normally employed to make buffer solutions.

Example:
H2O

CH3COOH(aq) H+(aq) + CH3COO-(aq)

Exercise 4:
Write the name and the ionization reaction of the following weak acids:
(a) H2CO3, (b) H2PO4-, and (c) NH4+
 BASES

Properties of bases:
 Have a bitter taste
 Have a slippery, soapy feel
 Produce hydroxide ions (OH-) in solution
 Turn red litmus paper to blue
 Ionizes when dissolved in water
 React with acids in neutralization reactions to produce salts and
water.
 BASES

Strong base:
 Strong bases completely dissociate into the metal and hydroxide ions in
solution.
 Strong bases consist of:
o Group 1 and 2 elements (NaOH and Ca(OH)2)
o Ammonium ion
 Strong bases can cause skin damage. Affected area needs to be rinsed
with large amount of water.
Exercise 5:
Other examples of bases consisting of group 1 and 2 elements?
 BASES

Uses of strong bases:

 They are used to break up and dissolve organic blockages in the drain.
 They are found in cleaning agents.
 Mg(OH)2 is known as milk of magnesia and it used as an antacid.
 BASES

Weak bases:
 Weak bases partially dissociates in water and produce a small portion of
OH- ions in solution.

Examples:

NH3(g) + H2O(l) NH4+(aq) + OH-(aq)

 Autoionization of water

 Water can act as a Brønsted-Lowry base in the presence of an acid, and acts as a Brønsted-
Lowry acid in the presence of a base.
 One water molecule can donate a proton to another water molecule, and that process is called
the autoionization of water.

H2O(l) + H2O(l) OH-(aq) + H2O+(aq)

 Water molecules do not remain ionized for long, because the reverse and forward reactions
are extremely rapid.
 pH

 pH is an expression of the [H+] in aqueous solution.

 pH is the negative logarithm in base 10 of [H+]:
pH = -log[H+]
 pH scale ranges from 0-14, as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1: [H+] and pH values of some common substances at 25 Obtained from Brown et al. 2014
 pH and pOH

 What about the small [OH-]?

 A negative log is also a useful way to express the magnitudes of other small
quantities.
pOH = -log[OH-]
 The relationship between pH and pOH:
pH + pOH = 14
 The relationship between [H+] and [OH-] in aqueous solution:
[H+][OH-] =

Can we measure pH?

 Universal indicator.
 pH meter.
 Exercise 6

Calculate the pH of the solutions containing the following concentrations:

1. [H+] = 0.01025
2. [HCl] = 0.795
3. [H2SO4] = 0.100

Calculate the pOH of the solutions containing the following concentrations:

1. [H+] = 0.0564
2. [OH-] = 0.0679
3. [Ca(OH)2] = 0.02
 Salts

 The reaction of acids and bases produces salt and water. This
reaction is also known as neutralization reaction.
 Some salts a soluble in water and some are insoluble.

Examples:

HCl(aq) + NaOH(aq) → NaCl(s) + H2O(l)

H2SO4(aq) + Mg(OH)2(aq) → MgSO4(aq) + 2H2O(l)

 Exercise 7

Write down the balanced equations of the neutralization reaction of the

following acid-base pairs:
1. HNO3 and Zn(OH)2

2. HCl and CaCO3