Acids and Bases

Chapter 19

19.1 Introduction

General properties
Acids cause foods to taste sour or tart
Bases cause a bitter taste and are
slippery as solids and liquids

19.1 Introduction

Acids can
react with
metals to
make
hydrogen gas
and can react
with
carbonates to
make carbon
dioxide

19.1

Both acid and base aqueous solutions

conduct electricity
Litmus paper indicates the type of
solution based on a change in color

19.1

Ions and solutions

Note all solutions in this chapter are aqueous

The type of solution (A/B)depends on the

balance of 2 ions
Hydrogen ion H+ or hydronium H3O+
Hydroxide ion OH-

Neutral solutions have EQUAL concentrations of

both
Neutral [H+ ] = [OH- ]
Note neutral does NOT mean the absence of

ions; it means the amounts of + and ions are equal

19.1

Acidic solutions have more hydrogen

ions than hydroxide ions
Basic solutions have more hydroxide
ions than hydrogen ions

19.1

Water is neutral because the H2O selfionizes into one + and one ion
H2O(l) + H2O(l) H3O+(aq) + OH-(aq)
H3O+ is called the hydronium ion and

results from a water molecule attaching to

a H+ ion
H3O+ is interchangeable with the H+ ion

The eq can be simplified into

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

19.1

19.1 Arrhenius A/B model

According to this definition:

Acids have hydrogen and create the H+

ion in aq solutions

Bases have the OH group and create the

OH- ion in aq solutions

19.1 Bronsted-Lowry A/B

model

This model is more inclusive and

explains A/B not included in the
Arrhenius model
Acids are H+ donors (lose a H+ ion)

HX will donate H+ ion to the water

molecule and become XHX is a Bronsted-Lowry ACID

19.1 B-L model

Bases are H+ acceptors (gain a H+

ion)

The water molecule gained a H+ ion to

become hydronium
Water (in this example) acts a
Bronsted-Lowry BASE

19.1

Notice this reaction is reversible

The reverse reaction is also between
an acid and a base
Acids and bases acting in the reverse

direction (on the right of the arrow) are

called conjugates

19.1 B-L model

Notice the acid becomes the conjugate

base and the base becomes the
conjugate acid
Called conjugate acid-base pairs

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

Acid = water
Base =NH3
Conjugate acid = NH4 +
Conjugate base = hydroxide

19.1

Water is amphoteric - can act as an

acid OR a base, depending on the
substance dissolved in it

19.1 Types of Acids

Monoprotic can donate only one H+

ion per molecule
Ex: perchloric acid, nitric acid, hydrobromic

acid, acetic acid*

H+ are only ionizable (able to be donated)
if the H atom is bonded to an
electronegative atom

19.1

Polyprotic acids can donate more

than one H+
All will ionize (donate H+) in STEPS, not all

at once
Sulfuric acid, carbonic acid, phosphoric
acid

19.2 Strength of A/B

Strong acids ionize completely

Notice the arrow points only in one

direction; this means the reverse reaction

does NOT occur
Equilibrium will favor the right
(products)side
Water is a stronger base than Cl- (has a
greater attraction for the H+)
Strong acids weak CB

19.2

Weak acids ionize partially

Notice the 2-sided arrow; both forward and

reverse reactions occur

Equilibrium will favor the left (reactants)
side
CH3O2- is a stronger base than water
Weak acids Strong CB

19.2

19.2

19.2

Ka (acid ionization constant) is just the

Keq for an acid dissolving in water

HCN(aq) + H2O(l) H3O+(aq) + CN-(aq)

Ka = [H3O+][CN-] = 6.2 x 10-10

[HCN]
Recall that Keq values lower than one favor
the reactants at equilibrium

19.2

Strong bases ionize completely into

metal ions and hydroxide ions

Weak bases ionize partially to form

CA and hydroxide ions
Kb (base ionization constant) is the Keq
for a base dissolving in water and is
interpreted similar to Ka

19.3 What is pH?

Important to know the Kw (ion product

constant for water) is equal to 1 x 10-14
Remember that water ionizes into equal

amount of hydronium and hydroxide ions

Kw is just the Keq of water
Experiments show the [H+ ] and [OH- ] both
equal 1.0 x 10-7

19.3

If Kw never changes, that means

Increasing H+ will cause OH- to decrease
Increasing OH- will cause H+ to decrease

We can use Kw to calculate unknown [ ]

of ions

19.3

pH is an easier way to express H+ ion

concentration

pH = - log [H+]
pH < 7 means acidic solution
pH > 7 means basic solution
pH = 7 means neutral solution
pH can never be less than 0 or greater
than 14

19.3

Because it is a log scale, pH=3 has ten

times more H+ ions than pH=4.

19.3

pOH is used to express concentration

of hydroxide ions
pOH = - log [OH-]

pOH < 7 is basic

pOH > 7 is acidic
pOH = 7 neutral

pH + pOH = 14

19.3

19.3

To calculate concentrations from pH

[H+] = antilog (-pH)

To calculate concentrations from pOH

[OH-] = antilog (-pOH)

19.3

19.3

For strong acid

solutions, pH will
equal the
concentration of
the solution
multiplied by the
number of H+
ions produced by
1 molecule of the
acid

19.3

For strong base solutions, the pOH will

equal the concentration of the solution
multiplied by the number of OH- ions
produced by 1 molecule of the acid

19.4 Neutralization

Neutralization reactions occur between

an acid and a base and result in water
and a salt

Titration uses the stoichiometry of a

neutralization reaction to determine
the concentration of a solution

19.3

Steps for titration:

Measured volume of acidic solution with UNKNOWN

concentration is placed in a beaker with an indicator

Indicators change color as pH changes

Buret is filled with known concentration of a basic

solution
Basic solution is added to beaker until the
equivalence point is reached
Point where moles of H+ = moles of OH

Reverse can be done for unknown base

See http://youtu.be/8UiuE7Xx5l8

19.4

Indicators are chosen based on the pH

at which they change color (end point)
The end point should be close to the

equivalence point
For ex: choose
methyl violet for a
reaction that has
an equ. pt. near 1

19.4
Titration curve
recorded pH of a
titration
Calculating molality using titration data:

Determine # of moles of base used

Use balance neut. rxn to convert moles of

base to moles of acid

Use moles of acid to find concentration of acid

See http://youtu.be/2z4mlE6MK0U

19.4

In most living organisms, a delicate,

specific pH balance must be
maintained
Buffers are produced/used to resist
changes in pH
Buffers are solutions of a weak acid and its

CB (or a weak base and its CA)

Blood pH is 7.4. If the pH changes

more than 0.3 point in either direction,
problems arrise.

19.4

The carbonic acid/bicarbonate buffer is

one way the body regulates pH

Based on LeChateliers principle