Properties of Acids

• Naming acids:
– Notes ch7: Binary acids (H with another
element) are hydro____ ic acid.
acid
– Oxyacids (H, O, other element) Named by
polyatomic ion involved. –ate ion =___ic acid,
acid
-ite ion =__ous
• Acids and bases play a central role in the
chemistry that affects your life.
• Your body needs acids and bases to
function properly.
 Acid Properties – low pH
• Sour taste
• Strong electrolyte
• React with metals to make H2 gas.
• Indicator color change (blue litmus ->red)
• Strong acid – completely ionized/dissociate
in aqueous solutions.
• Weak acid – ionize only slightly in aqueous
solutions.
 The Strong Acids – must know!
• HCl
• HBr
• HI
• H2SO4
• HNO3
• HClO4
 Base Properties – high pH
• Bitter taste
• Strong bases are Strong electrolytes
• Feel slippery
• Indicator color change (red litmus ->blue)
• Strong base – completely ionize/dissociate
in aqueous solutions.
• Weak base – slightly ionize/dissociate in
aqueous solutions.
 Examples of Strong Bases
• LiOH
• NaOH
• Sr(OH)2

*The strong bases are the group 1A and 2A metal hydroxides with the

exception of beryllium hydroxide.

 Arrhenius Acids & Bases
• Arrhenius: Acids give up H+ in solution. Bases
give up OH- in solution.
– Strong acids/bases give up (nearly) all of their H+/OH- in
solution and so are strong electrolytes.
– Weak acids/bases don’t give up all of their H+/OH- and so
they are weak electrolytes.
electrolytes
– Strong bases form alkaline solutions.
• Arrhenius acid – Hydrogen ion (H+) producer.
• Arrhenius base – Hydroxide ion (OH-) producer.
H2SO4 SO4-2 + 2H+
Hydrogen ion producer Hydrogen Ion

Ca(OH)2 Ca+2 + 2OH-1

Hydroxide ion producer Hydroxide Ion
 Bronsted – Lowry Acids & Bases
• Bronsted-Lowry Acids & Bases: Acids give up H+ in
solution, bases accept H+ in solution.
• Protons are transferred from acids to bases.
• Some acids can donate more than one H+.
– They are polyprotic acids.
• Polyprotic acids are usually diprotic (donate 2 protons EX H2SO4) or
triprotic (donate 3 protons EX H3PO4).
• Acid – hydrogen-ion donor.
donor
• Base – hydrogen-ion acceptor.
acceptor
+1 -1
+ +

NH3 + H2O NH4+ + OH-

Base Acid Proton Acceptor Proton Donor
 Lewis Acids & Bases
• Lewis Acid - substance that can accept a
pair of electrons to form a covalent bond.
• Lewis Base – substance that can donate a
pair of electrons to form a covalent bond.
H+ + O H- O
Acid Base H H
 Reactions of Acids & Bases
• Conjugate Acids & Bases:
• When Bronsted-Lowry acids give up a proton,
they turn into the conjugate base of that acid.
• When Bronsted-Lowry bases accept a proton, they
turn into the conjugate acid of that base.
– The stronger an acid is, the weaker its conjugate base
and vice versa.
– Generally, these reactions occur to favor the
production of the weaker acid and weaker base. (The
strong acids/bases really want to give up/accept the
proton resulting in the formation of the weaker acid and
weaker base.)
• Amphoteric Compounds can be either acids or
bases. Ex: water, HCO3-, NH3
 Example Problem
HCl + H2O → H3O+1 + Cl-1
Strong Acid Weak Base Stronger Weaker
Conjugate acid Conjugate
base

Stronger Stronger
Weak Acid Weak Base
HNO2 + H2O → H3O+1 acid
Conjugate + Conjugate
NO2-1 base

Weaker Weaker
Strong Base Strong Acid
C2H3O2-1 + H3O+1 → HCConjugate
H O
2 3 2
acid
+ HConjugate
2O base
 The pH Scale
• The pH scale ranges from 0-14.
0-14
• Neutral solutions have a pH of 7.0
• Acidic solutions have a pH between 0-6.99.
0-6.99
• Basic solutions have a pH between 7.01-14
• The pH of pure water or a neutral aqueous
solution is 7.0
 Measuring pH
• People need to be able to measure the pH of the
solutions they use.
• Acid-base indicators are commonly used to
check the pH of a system.
• Acid-base indicators respond to pH over a specific
range.
• An indicator is a valuable tool for measuring pH
because its acid form and base form have different
colors in solution.
Visual
 What is the only part of
the body that sulfuric acid
cannot break down?
Your teeth!