JSUNITUTORIAL

PANJABI COLONY, GALI NO. 01

Acids, bases and salts x
The sour taste of many fruits and vegetables, lemon for instance, is due to vari
ous types of acids present in them. The digestive fluids of most animals and hum
ans also contain acids. The word 'acid' is derived from a Latin word, which mean
s "sour". The acids we use in the laboratory are stronger acids like hydrochlori
c acid and sulphuric acid. Strong acids are corrosive and can burn your skin. Ba
ses on the other hand are the chemical opposites of acids. They are bitter in ta
ste and soapy to touch. Sea water and detergents are some examples of substances
that are basic. Many bases are oxide or hydroxide compounds of metals. Strong b
ases can also burn ones skin.
Indicators are substances that undergo a change of colour with a change of acidi
c, neutral or basic medium. Litmus, a purple dye extracted from the lichen plant
, is commonly used as an indicator in laboratories. Acids change the colour of l
itmus solution to red, and bases change the colour of litmus solution to blue. T
urmeric is another common household indicator. A stain of turmeric based food sp
ill on a white cloth becomes reddish-brown when soap is scrubbed on it. Soap is
basic in nature and changes the colour of the turmeric stain. It turns yellow ag
ain when the cloth is washed with plenty of water.
Indicator Final Colour
Acid Alkali
Litmus Red Blue
Methyl orange Pink Yellow
Phenolphthalein Colourless Deep pink
How do Acids React with Metals?
a) All metals above hydrogen in the metal reactivity series generally react with
dilute acids to form their respective salt and liberate hydrogen.
Metal + Acid Salt + Hydrogen

b) Very active metals like potassium, sodium and calcium also react similarly, b
ut tend to explode when combining with acids.
c) Nitric acid (of various concentrations) usually exhibits oxidizing property,
rather than acidic properties. Metals such as magnesium combine with extremely d
ilute (1%) nitric acid to liberate hydrogen.
How do Metal Carbonates and Metal Hydrogen Carbonates React with Acids?
Acids react with carbonates and hydrogen carbonates (bicarbonates) to form their
respective salt, water and carbon dioxide.
Carbonate/Bicarbonate + Acid Salt + Water + Carbon dioxide

How do Acids and Bases React with Each Other?

Acids and bases are the chemical 'opposites' of each other and the action of an
acid and a base nullifies the effect of one on the other. This is known as a neu
tralization reaction.
Base + Acid â Salt + Water
Examples:

Reaction of Metallic Oxides with Acids

Oxides that can add on hydroxyl ions (OH-) to their molecules are called basic o
xides. These oxides get neutralized when they react with acids.
Basic oxide + Acid Salt + Water

Action with Basic Hydroxides

Acids undergo neutralization reaction with basic hydroxides to form salt and wat
er.
Basic hydroxide + Acid Salt + Water

Reaction of Non-metallic Salts with Base

Calcium hydroxide, which is a base, reacts with carbon dioxide to produce a salt
and water. Since this is similar to the reaction between a base and an acid, we
can conclude that nonmetallic oxides are acidic in nature.
Alkalis combine with ammonium salts to liberate ammonia.
Alkali + Ammonium salt Salt + Water + Ammonia

What do all Acids and all Bases have in Common?

All acids generate hydrogen gas on reacting with metals. Hydrogen seems to be co
mmon to all acids. In fact all acids contain hydrogen ions (H+).
all acids contain hydrogen ions, the more hydrogen ions they contain, the strong
er the acids are. A good definition of an acid is a compound that produces H+ io
ns when it dissolved in water. Hydrogen ions cannot exist alone, but they exist
after combining with water molecules. H+ ions in association with a water molecu
le form H3O+ ions or hydronium ion.
H+ + H2O â H3O+
For example, when hydrogen chloride gas is dissolved in water the hydrogen chlor
ide molecules immediately disassociate or split into hydrogen ions and chloride
ions. The solution becomes a very strong acid solution called hydrochloric acid.

The separation of H+ ion from HCl molecules cannot occur in the absence of water
. Thus hydrogen ions must always be shown as H+(aq) or (H3O+).
A base is a substance, which on dissolving in water yields hydroxyl ions (OH-) a
s the only negative ions. A base may be an oxide or a hydroxide of a metal. If a
base is soluble in water, it dissociates to form a metal ion and the only negat
ive hydroxyl ion (OH-).
A base that is soluble in water is called an alkali. For example, when sodium hy
droxide is dissolved in water it readily disassociates to produce a lot of hydro
xide ions. Sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide and ammonium
hydroxide are the common alkalis.
Always add acid to water and never the other way! The acid must be added slowly
to water with constant stirring. If one mixes the other way by adding water to a
concentrated acid, the heat generated causes the mixture to splash out and caus
e burns. The glass container may also break due to excessive local heating and c
ause damages! Mixing an acid or base with water results in dilution. It decrease
s the concentration of ions (H3O+/OH-) per unit volume thereby dissipating the h
eat effect easily.
How Strong are Acid or Base Solutions?
The strength of an acid depends on the concentration of the hydronium ions (H3O+
) present in a solution. We know that greater the number of hydronium ions prese
nt, greater is the strength of acid. However, some acids do not dissociate to an
y appreciable extent in water such as carbonic acid. Therefore, these acids will
have a low concentration of hydronium ions.
Examples of strong acids are: hydrochloric acid, sulphuric acid, nitric acid etc
.

Weak Acid An acid that dissociates only partially when dissolved in water, i
s classified as a weak acid. Most of the molecules remain in solution in molecul
ar form itself in such acid.
Examples are: acetic acid, formic acid, carbonic acid etc.

OR
Strong Base The strength of a base depends on the concentration of the hydro
xyl ions when it is dissolved in water. A base that dissociates completely or al
most completely in water is classified as a strong base. The greater the number
of hydroxyl ions the base produces, the stronger is the base.
Example:
Weak Base
A base that dissociates in water only partially is known as a weak base.
Example:
The pH Scale
The concentration of hydronium ions in a solution can be expressed as moles of h
ydronium ions per litre of solution. This is expressed by a term called 'pH' whi
ch represents the 'power of hydrogen ion concentration' in solution. The pH valu
e is defined as: 'the negative logarithm (to the base 10) of the hydrogen ion co
ncentration, expressed in moles per liter'; i.e.,
pH = - log10[H+] Where, [H+] is the hydrogen ion concentration in molecule
/Liter
Pure water and other neutral solutions have a pH value of 7. A pH value less tha
n 7 indicates that the solution is acidic, and a pH value greater than 7 indicat
es that the solution is basic.
Everday use of the pH scale
The stomach produces hydrochloric acid that helps in the digestion of food. Unde
r normal conditions this acid does not harm the stomach. During indigestion the
stomach produces too much acid causing pain and irritation. The pain due to exce
ss acid can be got over by neutralizing it with a base. A base like magnesium hy
droxide (Milk of magnesia), a mild base, is often used for this purpose. These a
re also called antacids - substances neutralizing the excess acid.
Similarly bee-sting or ant sting and the stinging hair of nettle leaves produce
an acid called methanoic acid which causes burning pain and irritation. Use of a
mild base like baking soda on the stung area gives relief.
Tooth enamel is made up of calcium phosphate the hardest substance in the body a
nd does not dissolve in water. However it begins to corrode when the pH in the m
outh is below 5.5.
About Salts
Generally, salts are obtained by treating an acid with a base. Salts consist of
both positive ions or 'cations', and negative ions or 'anions'. The cations are
called basic radicals and are mostly obtained from metallic ions (ammonium ion b
eing one exception), while the anions are called acidic radicals and are obtaine
d from acids.
Salt is a compound, which on dissociation in water yields positive ions other th
an a hydrogen ion or hydronium ion, and a negative ion other than hydroxyl ion.