STUDYSMART

CHEMISTRY FORM 4
CHAPTER 7 : ACIDS AND BASES

7.1 Analysing characteristics and properties of acids and

bases
7.2 Synthesising the concepts of strong acids, weak acids,
strong alkalis and weak alkalis
7.3 Analysing concentration of acids and alkalis
7.4 Analysing Neutralization

7.1 ANALYSING CHARACTERISTICS AND PROPERTIES OF ACIDS AND BASES

Acids
An acid is a chemical substance which ionizes in water to produce hydrogen ions, H+
(hydroxonium ion, H3O+)
Example :
1. HCl H2O HH+ + ClHCl + H2O H3O+ + Cl2. HNO3
3. H2SO4

H2O

H+ + NO3-

H2O

4. CH3COOH
Acid can be classified based on its basicity
a) Monoprotic acid (1mol 1mol)
Example : HCl H2O
H+ + ClH
O
HNO3 2
H+ + NO3b) Diprotic acid (1mol 2mol)
HO
Example H2SO4 2
Bases and alkalis
A base is a chemical substance which ionizes in water to produce hydroxide ion, OH-.
Example :
1. Hydroxide Metal
NOTE!!
NaOH H2O Na+ + OHAll alkalis are bases, but all bases
2. Oxide Metals
are not alkalis
Li2O + H2O 2LiOH
B
Li2O + H2O 2Li+ + 2OHA
All soluble bases are known as alkalis
NH3 + H2O
NH4+ + OH

Chemical Properties of Acids___________

Acid + Base Salt + water
H2SO4 + ZnO ZnSO4 + H2O

Acid + metal salt + hydrogen gas

2HCl + Mg MgCl + H2

CHEMICAL
PROPERTIES OF ACIDS
Acid + carbonate Salt
+ Water + Carbon Dioxide
2HNO3 + CuCO3
Cu(NO3)2 + H2O
+ CO2

Chemical Properties of Alkalis___________

Alkali + Acid Salt + Water
NaOH + HCl NaCl + H2OS

Alkali + Metal Ion Insoluble Metal Hydroxide

2OH- + Cu2+
Cu(OH)2 [Blue Precipitate]
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
OF ALKALIS

Alkali + Ammonium salt Salt + water + ammonia gas

NaOH + NH4Cl
NaCl + H2O + NH3

7.2 SYNTHESISING THE CONCEPTS OF STRONG ACIDS, WEAK ACIDS, STRONG ALKALIS AND WEAK
ALKALIS
The pH scale
The pH is used to indicate the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a solution. It consist of pH value
that range from 0 14.
pH value less than 7 indicate an acidic solution
pH value equals 7 indicate a neutral solution
pH value greater than 7 indicate an alkaline solution
INCREASING ACIDITY
NEUTRAL
INCREASE ALKALINE
pH

5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
+
Concentration of H ions increases
Concentration of OH- ions increases
The pH is actually a measure of the concentration if hydrogen ions. The higher the pH value, the
higher the concentration of hydroxide ions.

Strong and weak acids

The strength of an acid depends on the degree of ionization or dissociation of the acid in water
An acid which ionizes completely in water to produce high concentration of hydrogen ion is
called a strong acid.
HCl H2O H+ + OHA weak acid is only partially ionizes in water to produce a low concentration of hydrogen ion
CH3COOH
H+ + CH3COO-

Strong and weak acids

The strength of an alkali depends on the degree of ionization of the alkali in water
A strong alkali is completely ionized in water to produce a higher concentration of hydroxide
ion, OHNaOH Na+ + OHA weak alkali ionizes partially in water to produce a low concentration of hydroxide ion, OHNH3 + H2O
NH4+ + OH7.3 ANALYSING CONCENTRATION OF ACIDS AND ALKALIS
Concentration is the quantity of solute in a given volume of solution, which is usually 1dm3
Concentration can be defined in two ways

The two units of concentration can be inter-converted

Molarity
x molar mass
-3
g dm-3
mol dm
molar mass
Preparation of standard solution
Standard solution is a solution in which its concentration is accurately known.
For preparation of solution by dilution method, add water to a concentrated solution changes
the concentration of the solution but does not change the amount of solute present in the
solution.
Thus, moles of solute before dilution = moles of solute after dilution
M 1 x V1 = M 2 x V 2
Where,
M1 = Molarity of solution before dilution
V1 = Volume of solution before dilution
M2 = Molarity of solution after dilution
V2 = Volume of solution after dilution
7.4 ANALYSING NEUTRALIZATION
Neutralization is the reaction between acid and bases to form salt and water.
ACID + BASE SALT + WATER
Examples:
a. HCl + NaOH NaCl + H2O
b. HNO3 + Ca(OH)2
c. H2SO4 + Ba(OH)2
d. CH3COOH + KOH
e. H3PO4 + NH4OH
When acid neutralizes an alkali/base, the pH value is 7. The point of which this happens is called
the end point
At the end point, H+ ion (from acid) combine with OH- ions (from base/alkali) to produce water
H+ + OH- H2O
Acid-base titration. Acid of known concentration is delivered from a burette to completely
neutralizes a known volume of an alkali in a conical flask

Numerical problems involving neutralization.

a, acid + b, base / alkali salt + water
MaVa = a
MbVb
b
Ma = molarity of acid
Va = volume of acid
Mb = molarity of alkali/base
Vb = volume of alkali/base
a = coefficient of acid in a balance equation
b = coefficient of base/alkali in a balance equation
TRY THIS 1
50 cm3 of 1 mol dm-3, sodium hydroxide solution is neutralized by 25 cm3 of sulphuric acid,
Calculate the concentration of acid in mol dm-3 and g dm-3
[RAM = H,1 ; S,32 ; O,16 ; Na, 23]

TRY THIS 2
Calculate the volume of 2 mol dm-3 potassium hydroxide that is needed to neutralize 100 cm3 of
1 mol dm-3 hydrochloric acid.