ACIDS & BASES

Kenneth E. Schnobrich

ACIDS - OPERATIONAL
DEFINITION

Have a sour taste (not recommended)

React with bases to form water and a
salt (Neutralizationn)
React with some metals to form a salt
and H2 gas (see Table J)
Reacts with indicators

Litmus Blue -> Red

Phenolphthalein - colorless

ACIDS - OPERATIONAL
DEFINITION

In aqueous solution they are good

electrolytes (conduct current)
Can be very corrosive and can cause
severe burns

BASES - OPERATIONAL
DEFINITION

Bases have a bitter taste (not recommended)

They have a slippery feel (soapy)
In aqueous solution they are good
electrolytes (conduct electric current)
React with acids to form a salt and water
(neutralization)
Cause indicators to change color

Litmus Red -> Blue

Phenolphthalein - pink

ACIDS - CONCEPTUAL
DEFINITION (Arrhenius)

ACIDS - are substances that will yield H+ as

the only positive ion in an aqueous solution.

HCl(aq) --> H+(aq) + Cl-(aq)

Monoprotic acid

H2SO4(aq) --> 2H+(aq) + SO4-2(aq)

Diprotic acid

H3PO4(aq) --> 3H+1(aq) + PO4-3(aq)

Triprotic acid

BASES - CONCEPTUAL
DEFINITION (Arrhenius)

BASES - are substances that will yield OH- as

the only negative ion in an aqueous solution.

NaOH(s) --> Na+(aq) + OH-(aq)

Ca(OH)2(s) --> Ca+2(aq) + 2OH-1(aq)

Fe(OH)3(s) --> Fe+3(aq) + 3OH-1(aq)

Acid/Base Reference Tables

These are considered strong acids because they ionize
almost completely in an aqueous solution. They yield a
high concentration of H+ or H3O+ ions in aqueous
solutions.

These are considered moderate to weak acids because

they do not ionize completely in an aqueous solution.
They yield a lower concentration of H+ or H3O+ ions in
aqueous solutions.

These are considered strong bases because they ionize

(dissociate) almost completely in an aqueous solution.
They yield a high concentration of OH - ions in aqueous
solutions.
These are considered weak bases because they ionize
(dissociate) to a small degree in an aqueous solution.
They yield a low concentration of OH - ions in aqueous
solutions.

Nature of the Hydrogen Ion

In an aqueous solution the hydrogen ion NEVER exists
by itself - it forms the Hydronium Ion (H3O+1)

H2O

O xH
x

H+1

H+1

H3O+1

H OxxH
H

+1

Arrhenius Theory
ACIDS - substances whose water solutions (aqueous)
contain Hydrogen ions (Hydronium ions) as the only
positive ion.
CHART K - contains a list of common Arrhenius acids
Listed by strength (strongest ->weakest)
BASES - substances whose water solutions (aqueous)
contain Hydroxide ions as the only negative ion.
CHART L - contains a list of common Arrhenius bases
Listed by strength (strongest ->weakest)

ACID/BASE STRENGTH
The Strength of an acid or base is determined by how
much it ionizes in an aqueous solution.
HCl, HNO3, H2SO4 - are considered strong because
they ionize almost 100% in an aqueous solution
KOH, NaOH - are considered strong bases because
they ionize (dissociate) almost 100% in a aqueous
Solution

Therefore, strong acids and bases are good electrolytes

in an aqueous solution

BRONSTED THEORY
The Bronsted-Lowry Theory is an expansion of the
definition of acids and bases (not a replacement).
ACIDS - substances that will donate a proton (all
Arrhenius acids are also Bronsted acids)
BASES - substances that will accept a proton (all
Arrhenius bases are also Bronsted bases)

HCl + H2O -> H3O+1 + Cl-1

REACTIONS
Acids with Metals
TABLE J of your Reference Tables for Chemistry is
important in determining what metals will react with an
acid - any metal above **H2 on Table J will react with an
acid to form H2 gas and a salt.

HCl(aq) + Mg(s) -> MgCl2(aq) + H2(g)

Activity Series

All of the metals listed above **H2 on this activity

series will react to replace hydrogen from an acid to
produce H2 as one of the products of the reaction.
2HCl(aq) + Zn(s) -> Zn+2(aq) + 2Cl-(aq) + H2(g)

REACTIONS
Neutralization
Neutralization - an Arrhenius acid reacts with an
Arrhenius base to form a salt and water as the products
of the reaction
H+(aq) + Cl-(aq)

Na+(aq) + OH-(aq)

HCl(aq) + NaOH(aq) -> NaCl(aq) + H2O(l)

**Na+1 ions and Cl-1 ions are Spectator Ions

pH/Acid/Base - Strength
pH = -log of the [H+] in a solution. The pH scale describes
the concentration of [H+] in an aqueous solution. The scale
is based on neutral water where the [H+] = [OH-]
concentration.

HOH(l) -> H+(aq) + OH-(aq)

**Important note: remember H+ = H3O+ in aqueous solution

pH SCALE
Neutral

Becoming more
Acidic

[H]+>[OH]-

Becoming more
Basic

[H]+=[OH]*Remember [

] = concentration in mols/L

14

[H]+<[OH]-

pH and Indicators
Indicators tend to be weak organic acids
HIn(aq)
H+(aq) + In-(aq)
Color 1

Color 2

A change in color indicates a change in the pH of the

solution by shifting the equilibrium above to decrease or
increase the amounts of HIn or In- in solution.
If you started with a pH of 2.0 and used
bromcresol green as your indicator the solution
would appear yellow. If you now added a base
like NaOH, as the pH increases to something
between 3.8 and 5.4, the solution would appear
green in color (a combination of yellow and
blue).

Titration using an Indicator

Acid-Base titrations are very common in chemistry labs.
What is a titration?
A titration is a procedure in which a base is added to an
acid (or vice versa), a neutralization reaction occurs; an
indicator is used to determine the point at which you have
equivalent quantities of H+(H3O+) and OH-.
A commonly used acid-base indicator is Phenolphthalein.
Using Phenolphthalein, you are looking for a faint pink
color to indicate the so-called end point or equivalence
point. At the end point even a trace amount of base will
cause a drastic change in color because of the equilibrium
shift.
HIn (aq)
H+(aq) + In-(aq)
Colorless in acid solution

Deep pink in base solution

Phenolphthalein

Titration
In the burette you would place a known quantity of base
like NaOH (unknown molarity) deliver it slowly using the stopcock

You would add base until a very faint

pink color appears in the flask the
equivalence point.

In the Erlenmeyer flask you would have an acid

solution with a known volume and molarity.
You would also have 4-5 drops of
Phenolphthalein indicator (it would appear
colorless in the acid solution)

Titration Calculation
Since we assume at the equivalence point that the
[H+] = [OH-] we can say #mols H+ = #mols OH-.
M(V) = # mols
at the equivalence point MaVa = MbVb (see Table T)
If we had 20 mL of a 1.0M acid and it took 40 mL of
the base, what is the molarity of the base?
(1.0 M)(20 mL) = (X)(40 mL)
X = (1.0 M)(20 mL)/40 mL = 0.5M for the base

Titration Calculation #2
There are times when the titration uses a strong
diprotic acid (2 mols of H+(H3O+)/mol of acid) like
sulfuric acid.
H2SO4(aq) + 2NaOH(aq)
Na2SO4(aq) + 2H2O(l)

2H3O+

SO4-2

2Na+ 2OH-

2Na+

SO4-2

2H2O

Titration Calculation #2
On the previous slide you notice it takes 2 mols of NaOH
to neutralize the 2 mols of H+ (H3O+) using the diprotic acid,
sulfuric acid (H2SO4).
If we have 20.0 mL of 1.0M sulfuric acid in the flask and it
takes 40 mL of the base, NaOH, what is the molarity of the
base?
MaVa = MbVb
2.0M(20.0 mL) = X(40 mL)
X = 2.0M(20.0 mL)/40 mL) = 1.0MNaOH
Notice the adjusted molarity of the acid to 2.0M because it
is a diprotic acid. Sulfuric acid will yield 2 mols of
hydrogen ions (hydronium ions) per mol of acid ionized.

Kw for Water
The Kw for H2O = 1 x 10-14 at 25C. This means that the [H+] and
the [OH-] equals 1 x 10-7.
This means that in an aqueous solution the [H+][OH-] = 1 x 10-14.
In a 0.001M HCl solution the concentration of [H+] = 1 x 10-3 and
the [OH-] = 1 x 10-11 because the product of the two concentrations
must always equal 1 x 10-14 in an aqueous solution.
The pH of this solution would be 3.
pH = -log [H+] = -(log 1 x 10-3) = -(-3) = 3
At pH of 3 it would be considered a fairly strong acid solution

HCl

H2O

H3O+

Cl-

Hydrolysis of a Salt
Hydrolysis of a salt is the reverse of neutralization. In
neutralization, an acid and a base react to form a salt and
water.
Salts can be formed by reactions of
1. strong acid and a strong base
2. strong acid and a weak base
3. strong base and weak acid
4. Weak acid and weak base
In cases 1, 2, and 3 it is easy to predict the outcome of
hydrolysis of the resulting salt. In case 4 you would have to
know the values for the strengths of the acid and base
(information you do not have).

Hydrolysis Case #1
NaCl(s) + HOH(l) = Na+(aq) + OH-(aq) + H+(aq) + Cl-(aq)

NaCl is the salt of a strong acid and a strong base so when

it dissolves in water there will be an equal number of H+
and OH- ions in solution.
The aqueous solution would have a pH of 7.

Hydrolysis Case #2
NH4NO3(s) + HOH = NH4+(aq) + OH-(aq) + H+(aq) + NO3-(aq)
Since NH4NO3 is the salt of a weak base, NH4OH and a
strong acid, HNO3 the salt will yield a higher concentration
of H+ in the aqueous solution than the OH- ions.
The solution of NH4NO3 with have an acidic pH.

Hydrolysis Case #3
K2CO3(s) + 2HOH(l) = 2K+(aq) + 2OH-(aq) + 2H+(aq) + CO3-2(aq)
Since K2CO3 is the salt of a strong base, KOH and a weak
acid, H2CO3 the salt will yield a higher concentration of OHin the aqueous solution than the H+ ions.
The solution of K2CO3 with have an basic pH.