Chemistry Notes: Acids and

Bases
Chemistry 2014-2015
 Properties of Acids and Bases
Acids
 taste sour (vinegar, lemons)
 aqueous solutions of acids are
electrolytes
 cause indicators to change
colors
 many metals react with acids
to produce H2 gas
 react with bases to form a salt
and water
 most formulas begin with H
Bases
 bitter taste (soap,
unsweetened chocolate)
 bases are electrolytes in
aqueous solution
 cause indicators to change
colors
 feel slippery
 react with acids to form a salt
and water
 often contain OH- , or ammonia
NH3
 Examples
The bolded formulas below to STRONG acids and
bases

Common acids Common bases

 HCl  NaOH
 HNO3
 KOH
 H2SO4
 H3PO4  Ca(OH)2
 HC2H3O2  LiOH
 H2CO3  NH3
Trivia: Aqua Regia

 Aqua regia is a
concentrated mixture of
hydrochloric and nitric
acid. It creates toxic
fumes of chlorine gas and
is capable of dissolving
gold. It is represented by
a fire-breathing dragon in
old alchemy works.
 Measuring pH

 The pH of a substance can tell us if it’s

an acid, a base, or neutral. pH is a
measurement of the concentration of
hydrogen ions (H+) in a solution. The
more hydrogen ions present, the more
acidic a substance is.
 Acids have large amounts of hydrogen
ions, and low pH (pH < 7).
 Bases have small amounts of
hydrogen ions, and high pH (pH > 7).
 Another measurement, pOH, tells use the concentration of
hydroxide (OH-) ions in a solution. The more hydroxide ions
present, the more basic a substance is.
 Acids have small amounts of hydroxide ions, and high pOH
(pOH > 7).
 Bases have large amounts of hydroxide ions, and low pOH
(pOH < 7).
 Neutral substances have equal amounts of hydrogen and
hydrogen ions (pH = 7, pOH = 7).
 The pH and pOH of a substance always add up to 14.
 Practice: Are these solutions acidic,
basic, or neutral?

pH = 5.6 NH3

Large concentration of OH- ions Small concentration of H+ ions

pOH = 3.2 pH = pOH

H2SO4 NaOH

Large concentration of H+ ions HCl

 Practice: Are these solutions acidic,
basic, or neutral?

If the pH of a solution is 6, what is its pOH? Is it an acid or base?

If the pH of a solution is 4, what is its pOH? Is it an acid or base?

If the pOH of a solution is 3, what is its pH? Is it an acid or base?

 Indicators

 Indicators are substances that change

color in solutions of different pH
 Help determine approximate pH
 Phenolphthalein

Colorless in
acid
Pink in base
 Universal indicator

 Mixture of indicators
 Changes into
different colors at
each pH (rainbow)
 Red/orange in acid,
blue/purple in base,
green around pH = 7
 Litmus paper

Blue litmus turns red in

acid

Red litmus turns blue in

base
Well, what is H2SO4? Why is Johnny no
more?
 Writing Names and Formulas for
Acids and Bases—Acids
 Acids generally begin with
H, so their formulas are
easy to recognize. The
name of an acid depends
on everything after the H
in the formula (the anion).
Common acids
 HCl hydrochloric acid
 HNO3 nitric acid
 H2SO4 sulfuric acid
 H3PO4 phosphoric acid
 HC2H3O2 acetic acid
 H2CO3 carbonic acid
 Writing Names and Formulas for
Acids and Bases—Acids

 Determine the name of the anion in the acid. For example, HI

contains iodide, I-. H2SO3 contains sulfite, SO32-. H2Cr2O7
contains dichromate, Cr2O72-.
 The last three letters of the anion determine the rules you
will use to name the acid. You will take the root of the acid’s
name from the anion it contains.
 -ide  hydro ________ ic acid
 -ite  ____________ ous acid (no prefix)
 -ate  ___________ ic acid (no prefix)
 Writing Names and Formulas for
Acids and Bases—Acids

 Therefore, HI is hydroiodic acid, H2SO3 is sulfurous

acid, and H2Cr2O7 is dichromic acid. Note that acid
names do not contain the word “hydrogen”.
 To determine the name of an acid from its formula,
you need to swap and drop the anion with
hydrogen ions. For example, nitric acid must
contain nitrate, NO3-. If you swap and drop
hydrogen (H+) with NO3-, you get HNO3.
 Writing Names and Formulas for
Acids and Bases—Bases

 Bases are relatively easy to name, since many contain

the hydroxide ion, OH-. Ex. Ba(OH)2 is barium
hydroxide, NaOH is sodium hydroxide, Al(OH)3 is
aluminum hydroxide, Fe(OH)2 is iron (II) hyroxide.
 One exception to the rule above is the weak base
NH3, ammonia.
 Except for ammonia (NH3, a formula you “just need to
know”), you usually need to swap and drop to
determine the formula of a base. Most will contain
hydroxide.
 Names and Formulas Practice

Write the names for the following acids and bases.

LiOH H2SO4 NH3

 Names and Formulas Practice

Write the names for the following acids and bases.

Mg(OH)2 HNO2 HCN

 Names and Formulas Practice

Write the names for the following acids and bases.

HBr Sr(OH)2 HClO4

Write the formulas for the following acids and bases.

Ammonia Nitric acid Hydrochloric acid

Write the formulas for the following acids and bases.

Calcium hydroxide Chromic acid Chlorous acid