Acid and Base Definitions

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Acid and Bases
Acid and Bases
Acid and Bases
 Acids

Have a sour taste. Vinegar is a solution of acetic acid. Citrus

fruits contain citric acid.
React with certain metals to produce hydrogen gas.
React with carbonates and bicarbonates to produce carbon
dioxide gas

Bases
Have a bitter taste.
Feel slippery. Many soaps contain bases.
 Some Properties of Acids
 Produce H+ (as H3O+) ions in water (the hydronium ion is a hydrogen ion
attached to a water molecule)

 Taste sour
 Corrode metals
 Electrolytes
 React with bases to form a salt and water
 pH is less than 7
 Turns blue litmus paper to red “Blue to Red A-CID”
 Acid Nomenclature Review

Anion
Ending Acid Name
No Oxygen -ide hydro-(stem)-ic acid

-ate (stem)-ic acid

w/Oxygen
-ite (stem)-ous acid
An easy way to remember which goes with which…
“In the cafeteria, you ATE something ICky”
Acid Nomenclature
Flowchart
ACIDS
start with 'H'

2 elements 3 elements

hydro- prefix no hydro- prefix

-ic ending

-ate ending -ite ending

becomes becomes
-ic ending -ous ending
 Acid Nomenclature Review

• HBr (aq)  hydrobromic acid

• H2CO3  carbonic acid

• H2SO3  sulfurous acid

 Some Properties of Bases
 Produce OH- ions in water

 Taste bitter, chalky

 Are electrolytes

 Feel soapy, slippery

 React with acids to form salts and water

 pH greater than 7

 Turns red litmus paper to blue “Basic Blue”

 Some Common Bases

NaOH sodium hydroxide lye

KOH potassium hydroxide liquid soap

Ba(OH)2 barium hydroxide stabilizer for plastics

Mg(OH)2 magnesium hydroxide “MOM” Milk of magnesia

Al(OH)3 aluminum hydroxide Maalox (antacid)

 Acid/Base definitions
• Definition #1: Arrhenius (traditional)

Acids – produce H+ ions (or hydronium ions H3O+) in water

Bases – produce OH- ions in water

(problem: some bases don’t have hydroxide ions!)

Arrhenius acid is a substance that produces H+ (H3O+) in water

Arrhenius base is a substance that produces OH- in water

 Acid/Base Definitions
• Definition #2: Brønsted – Lowry

Acids – proton donor

Bases – proton acceptor

A “proton” is really just a hydrogen atom

that has lost it’s electron!
 A Brønsted-Lowry acid is a proton donor
A Brønsted-Lowry base is a proton acceptor

conjugate conjugate
base acid
acid base
 ACID-BASE THEORIES
The Brønsted definition means
NH3 is a BASE in water — and
water is itself an ACID
NH3 + H2O NH4+ + OH-
Base Acid Acid Base
 Amphoteric Substances
• A substance that is amphoteric can act as
either an acid or a base.
• In the previous slide, water acted as an acid.
• In the following example, water acts as a base.
HCl (g) + H2O (l)  H3O+ (aq) + Cl- (aq)
acid base conj. acid conj. base
Conjugate Pairs
 Acid-Base Behavior
• Consider a compound having the formula HOX.
• If X is highly electronegative, it will have a strong attraction
for the electrons shared with O.
– The O, will in turn, pull strongly on the electrons held shared
with H.
– This H will then be easily lost = acid
• If X has a low electronegativity, the oxygen will pull the
electrons away from X.
– The hydrogen will remain joined to the oxygen.
– Since the O and H can easily remain together, it is likely that OH-
will be formed = base
• Nonmetals tend to have high EN = acids
• Metals tend to have low EN = bases
 Acids & Base Definitions
Definition #3 – Lewis
Lewis acid - a substance
that accepts an electron
pair

Lewis base - a substance

that donates an electron
pair
 Lewis Acids & Bases
Formation of hydronium ion is also an excellent
example.
•• ••
O—H ••
+ H O—H
H
H
H
ACID BASE
•Electron pair of the new O-H bond
originates on the Lewis base.
Lewis Acid/Base Reaction
 Lewis Acid-Base
Interactions in Biology
• The heme group in
hemoglobin can
interact with O2 and
CO.
• The Fe ion in
hemoglobin is a
Lewis acid
• O2 and CO can act
as Lewis bases
Heme group
 HOMEWORK
1) Identify the acid, base, conjugate acid, and conjugate base
in the following reactions (using the Bronsted-Lowry
definition):
a) HNO3 (aq) + NaOH (aq)  H2O (l) + NaNO3 (aq)
b) NaHCO3 (aq) + HCl (aq)  NaCl (aq) + H2CO3 (aq)
2) What is the conjugate base of each of the following acids?
a) H2SO3 c) NH3
b) H2CO3 d) HF
3) Classify each of the following substances as either a Lewis
acid or a Lewis base:
a) Cl- c) Na+
b) CO32- d) Br-
 MORE HOMEWORK
4) Describe the differences in the three acid-
base definitions of this PowerPoint.
5) What are conjugate acids and bases?
6) Name the following substances:
a) HCl (aq) b) H2SO4 c) KOH
7) What kind of element would you expect to
find in position X of the compound HOX if the
compound is determined to be amphoteric?