Acids, Bases, Salts

Weak vs Strong, Titration

pH, Dissolving Methods, Electrolytes
Acid Information

An acid is a compound that produces

hydronium ions (H3O1+ or combined
hydrogen) when dissolved in water
Acids taste sour.
Acids turn indicators red
Show reactivity when combined with
metals
Hydronium Ions

The protons released (in the form of

hydrogen) are not normally found
uncombined in solution.
The H1+ combines with water to form
H3O1+ (hydronium ion)
Any solution that contains hydronium
ions is acidic
Strong vs Weak Acids

The more hydronium ions the acid

produces in solution, the stronger the
acid.
Strong acids ionize completely, forming
many hydronium ions (the water
solution contains only ions; there are no
molecules of the acid left)
Weak acids do not ionize completely
Strong Acids

Strong acids are very corrosive. They react

with metals and can cause severe burns
on the skin. They conduct electricity
well.
Strong acids:
Hydrochloric HCl
Nitric HNO3
Sulfuric H2SO4
Hydrobromic HBr
Weak Acids

Weak acids are often organic acids.

All organic acids contain a –COOH group
(which ionizes and provides the H1+ that
makes a compound an acid.
Formic acid HCOOH (ants)
Acetic acid CH3COOH (vinegar)
Salicylic acid C6H4(OH)COOH (aspirin)
Citric acid C5H7O5COOH (citrus)
Bases

Bases are ionic compounds containing

metal ions and hydroxide ions.
Bases taste bitter and feel slippery
Bases turn indicators blue
Bases release hydroxide ions in water
solutions (the more released, the
stronger the base)
Common Bases

Sodium hydroxide NaOH

Calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)2
Magnesium hydroxide Mg(OH)2
Ammonium hydroxide NH4OH
Bases

Although many bases contain hydroxide

ions, there are some that do not.
Ammonia, for example, produces a
hydroxide ion only when it is dissolved
in water.
Salts

In general, salts are ionic compounds

composed of metallic ions and
nonmetallic ions
Salts dissociate in water. Salt solutions
are generally electrolytes.
An electrolyte is a substance that
ionizes or dissociates into ions when it
dissolves in water (conducts electricity)
Salt + Water

The reaction of a salt and water to form

an acid and base is called hydrolysis.
This is the reverse of a neutralization
reaction in which acid and bases react
to form a salt and water.
Proton Donors and
Acceptors
Acids lose or “donate” protons. When
acid and base react in water, a proton
from the hydronium ion combines with
the hydroxide from the base to form
water.
Bases “accept” protons.
Water can act as either acid or base
depending on compound with which it
reacts.
Titration

Titration is a technique for measuring

the relative strength of a solution.
Endpoint is the point in a titration where
equal amounts of reactants are present.
Buffers are solutions which can receive
moderate amounts of acid or base with
significant changes in pH
Indicators

Indicators are weak organic acids or

bases which have the property of
changing color in solution when the
hydrogen ion concentration reaches a
definite value.
Standardization of NaOH

Using a measured amount of KHP

(4.05 g/ 200 mL of water) = 0.1 M
Titrate with NaOH (aq) till endpoint (using
indicator and/or pH meter)
Use formula: M1V1 = M2V2 to solve for
molarity of NaOH solution
Use known molarity of NaOH in other
titrations
Definitions:

Molarity = # moles/ liter of solution

Titration = procedure to determine the
concentration of some substance by controlled
addition of known molarity substance
Indicator = substance used to signal when
titration reaches point where reactants are
chemically equal in concentration
More Definitions:

End Point = point when indicators

change color
Equivalence Point = point in a titration in
which enough standard solution has
been added to react exactly with
substance being determined (reactants
in exact molar proportions)
pH scale

The pH scale is a measure of the

hydronium ion concentration.
A pH of 7 indicates a neutral solution
while acids are less than 7 and bases
greater than 7
pH = log 1 / [H3O1+] or – log [H3O1+]
More on pH

If you add an acid to water, the

concentration of hydronium ions
increases and the concentration of
hydroxide decreases.
The lower the pH value, the greater the
hydronium ion concentration.
Example:

Supppose you have a HCl solution with

concentration of hydronium ions of 0.10
M (or written another way = 1 E -1 M).
This solution has a pH of 1
[H3O1+] = 0.10 M
Still more on pH

If you add base to water the

concentration of hydroxide increases
and the hydronium ion concentration
decreases.
The higher the pH value, the lower the
hydronium ion concentration.
Example:

Consider a NaOH solution with a

concentration of hydroxide is 0.10 M.
The concentration of hydronium ions is
1.0 E -13 M.
pH of 13 = 0.000 000 000 000 1 M
This concentration corresponds to a pH
of 13.
Dissolving Review

Dissociation: process in which an ionic

compound separates into ions as it
dissolves (ions pulled into solution are
same ions present in solute)
NaCl example: Water is polar and is
attracted to ions in solute. Ions are
pulled into solution by surrounding water
molecules.
Dissolving: Ionization

Ionization: process in which neutral

molecules can or lose electrons (ions in
solution are formed by reaction of solute and
solvent particles)
HCl example: HCl (g) dissolves in water, the
hydrogen proton combines with water to form
H3O1+ and Cl1- ions (ions in solution are
formed by reaction of solute and solvent
particles)
Dissolving: Dispersion

Some compounds dissolve in water by

dispersion, or breaking into small pieces
that spread throughout the water
Sugar example: Attractions form
between water mlcls and exposed sugar
mlcls. Surrounding water mlcls
overcome attractions holding sugar to
crystal and it is pulled into solution.
Electrolytes

Electrolytes are compounds that

conduct electricity in aqueous solutions.
As these substances dissolve in water,
they either dissociate or ionize to form
ions which are freely able to move
about.
More on Electrolytes

The magnitude of electrical conduction

depends on the degree of ionization or
dissociation and gives an indication of
the type of chemical bonds.
The more conduction, the more ionic the
bonding character (the less conduction,
less ionic character).
Nonelectrolytes

Compounds that do not conduct

electricity in aqueous solutions are
nonelectrolytes (usually covalently
bonded compounds).
Weak Acids

Solutions of weak acids (like acetic acid)

do not conduct electricity as well as nitric
acid does.
When acetic acid dissolves in water, some
molecules combine with water to form ions
but many of these ions then recombine to
form mlcls of acetic acid.
Because there are few ions, the solution
does not conduct electricity well.
Strong vs Weak Acids

Strong acids are not always more

caustic that weak acids.
A concentrated solution of acetic acid
(vinegar) can burn skin but a dilute
solution of phosphoric acid (a strong
acid) is a component of some
carbonated soft drinks.
Strong Bases

Strong bases do not always produce a

large number of hydroxide ions.
Calcium hydroxide  Ca(OH)2
is a strong base but does not produce
a large number of hydroxide ions
because of its low solubility
Hydrogen Atoms in Acids

Acids that have more than one hydrogen per

molecule ionize by losing them one at a time.
Each hydrogen is more difficult to lose than the
one before because it is not being lost from a
negative ion.
H3PO4 loses 1 hydrogen easily, but H2PO41-
loses the next less easily and then HPO4 2- loses
the last with most difficulty (making this acid
weaker than nitric acid which only has one
hydrogen to lose during ionization).
Neutralization Reactions

HCl (aq) + H2O (l)  H3O1+ (aq) + Cl1- (aq)

NaOH (aq) + H2O (l)  Na1+ (aq) + OH1- (aq)

H3O1+ (aq) + OH1- (aq)  2 H2O (l)

The sodium and chloride ions are called spectator

ions because they watch this reaction from the
sidelines.
Mixing Acids and Bases

If equal concentrations and equal

volumes of strong acids and bases are
mixed, all hydronium ions and hydroxide
ions react to form water (resulting in a
neutral solution).
If strong acid mixed with weak base of
same concentration = acidic solution
If weak acid mixed with strong base =
basic solution