Boardworks Ltd 2003

Boardworks Ltd 2003

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Boardworks Ltd 2003
What is an acid?
Here are some facts about acids.
Strong acids are corrosive eating away at things like
metal, stone and flesh!
Weak acids, like lemon juice and vinegar, taste sour.
Acids turn litmus red.
Acids have a pH below 7.
Acids contain hydrogen (but not all things that contain
hydrogen are acids!).
Acids can be neutralised with alkalis.
Boardworks Ltd 2003
Some common acids
Three acids are particularly common in the laboratory .
These are strong acids that should be treated with
the greatest respect.
Acid Formula Salts formed
hydrochloric HCl chlorides
sulphuric H
2
SO
4
sulphates
nitric HNO
3
nitrates
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Indicators: acid or alkali?
An indicator is a dye which changes colour according to
whether it is in an acidic or alkaline solution.
Litmus is available as a liquid that
can be added to the solution.
For example, litmus is an indicator
that is red in acid and blue in alkali.
It is also available as strips of
paper so that you can add a drop
of the solution to the paper.
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Litmus Test
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Indicators: how acid or alkali?
Litmus will tell you whether a solution is acid or alkali:
what it wont tell you is how acid or alkali.

Universal indicator has a whole range of colours that
tell us how strong an acid or alkali is.
Strong acid Neutral Strong alkali
Weak acid Weak alkali
More alkali More acid
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Indicators: the pH scale
This attaches a number called the pH value to each
universal indicator colour.






This means we can quickly say how acid or alkali a
substance is by quoting a single number.
1 2 14 13 12 11 10 9 8
7
6 5 4 3
Strong acid Neutral Strong alkali
Weak acid Weak alkali
pH7 is neutral
pH 1 is strongly acid
pH14 is strongly alkali
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Indicators: the pH scale
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Will it be acidic, basic or neutral and how strong?
1 2 14 13 12 11 10 9 8
7
6 5 4 3
Substance pH Description of acid / alkali
Soda water 6
Car battery acid 1
Soap 8
Washing soda 10
Stomach acid 2
Oven cleaner 14
Vinegar 4
very weak acid
very strong acid
very weak alkali
weak alkali
strong acid
very strong alkali
weak acid
Alkali Acid
Indicators: the pH scale
Boardworks Ltd 2003
Bases
Bases are substances that neutralise acids.
Bases are usually:
Metal hydroxides contain OH
Metal oxides contain O
Metal carbonates contain CO
3
The following general word equation describes
neutralisations:
acid + base a salt + water
In the case of carbonates we also get carbon dioxide.
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Alkalis
Bases are substances that neutralise acids.
Alkalis are soluble bases.

Although both can neutralise acids solubility is
important when it comes to the pH of
solutions. For example, adding sodium
hydroxide to water gives a solution with a pH
of about 14.

When calcium carbonate is added to water it
does not dissolve and so the pH remains
close to 7. Even so it can neutralise acid that
is added although more slowly than a soluble
base might.
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Neutralisation - Indigestion
If we have too much acid in our stomachs, we
get indigestion.
Acid can move up out of our stomach creating
a burning feeling in the chest.
We neutralise the excess acid by taking a tablet containing
a base.
This is usually a carbonate or an oxide.
Strong soluble bases (like sodium hydroxide) would create
too alkaline a solution and cannot be used.
Alkali Acid
1 2 14 13 12 11 10 9 8
7
6 5 4 3
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Neutralisation - Stings
A bee sting is acidic.
One way to treat a basic wasps sting is with
an acid : vinegar - ethanoic acid.
So one way to treat a an acidic bee sting is to
dab on a base: bicarbonate of soda more
properly known as sodium hydrogen
carbonate.
A wasp sting is alkaline.
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Neutralisation Soil pH
Many plants wont grow well in acid soil and so
farmers have to regularly check the pH and
adjust it by adding a base.
Plants remove compounds from the soil in a way
that tends to leave the soil acidic.
Calcium carbonate or calcium
hydroxide are cheap and so are
often used for this purpose.
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Neutralisation Soil fertilisers
Ammonia is a water soluble gas high in nitrogen and in
some countries it is injected directly into moist soil.
However, because it is a gas much of it is quickly lost.
In the UK ammonia is dissolved in water to give
ammonium hydroxide (an alkali) and this is neutralised
by reacting it with nitric acid to give a solid nitrogen rich
fertiliser.
Plants also remove nitrogen compounds from the soil and
this is often replaced using fertiliser.
water + ammonium
nitrate
nitric acid + ammonium
hydroxide
NH
4
OH

+ HNO
3
NH
4
NO
3
+ H
2
O
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The gases are scrubbed, as much as possible,
of these acidic oxides by reacting them with a
base before releasing them into the air.
Many power stations burn coal containing sulphur.
When this burns it produces acidic sulphur oxides which
can cause acid rain.
Calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide are often
used for this purpose.
Neutralisation - acid gases
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Steps have been taken to reduce emissions of acidic
sulfur oxides from power stations and nitrogen oxides
from cars.
Even so the atmosphere still contains enough of them to
make the rain from industrial areas quite acidic.
Acid rain living things
Trees and lakes are badly
affected in many parts of the
world including Northern
Germany and Scandinavia
which suffers from South-West
winds from the UK.
Acid rain damaged tress
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Acid rain increases the rate of corrosion of metals.
Acid rain metals and stone
The metal above the
wheel arch of this car
is rusting away
It also greatly accelerates the rate of chemical weathering
of certain stones used in building such as limestone and
marble. (These stones are carbonates. What gas will be
given off as they dissolve?)
CO
2
Boardworks Ltd 2003
Acid
Alkali
Carbonate
Chloride
Hydrogen
Indicator
Indigestion
Litmus
Metal
Neutralise
Nitrate
Nitrogen
Salt
Water
There are sixteen
easy-find words
in the word square.
Write a clue for
each word drawing
upon what you
have studied in this
unit of work
I Q W R A C I D Q P S S W K G
N E U T R A L I S E G A R M Y
D P L X S R Q N I T R O G E N
I M S U U B K D X O C G W Y I
G S C H L O R I D E B Z S R F
E W T Y F N S C M E T A L O J
S G K D A A U A L K A L I J O
T S A R T T L T C U W A T E R
I I P O E E F O S D H I M U W
O N K G E E U R A C O W U M D
N O B E B C R C L Q K D S U J
N V J N I T T A T E A J N B B
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Acids and Alkalis
Multiple-Choice Questions
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A Sodium bicarbonate
B Vinegar
C Litmus
D Salt
1. Which of these is an indicator?
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A Potassium hydroxide
B Sodium chloride
C Sodium hydroxide
D Sodium
2. Which of these is a salt?
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A pH 7
B pH 1
C pH 8
D pH 13

3. Which of these is a weak alkali?
A substance with:
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A Water - pH 7
B Lemon - pH 3
C Oven cleaner - pH 14
D Bicarbonate of Soda pH 9
4. Which of these might you put on a ant
sting to neutralise the acid in the sting?
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A Hydrogen
B Sulphur
C Oxygen
D Nitrogen



5. Which of these do all acids contain?
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A Silver nitrate
B Sodium hydroxide
C Calcium hydroxide
D Magnesium hydroxide
6. Which of these substances would not
neutralise an acid?