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4.1.1 Outline the historical development of ideas about acids including those of:
Lavoisier
Davy
Arrhenius
In 1780 French chemist Antoine Lavoisier put forward his theory that oxygen was what caused the acidic
properties of many acids. He came to this conclusion after he observed that when non-metal oxides
dissolved in water, they formed acidic solutions. He coined the word oxygen (acid former) and defined an
acid as a substance that was non-metallic and contained oxygen. However bases such as NaOH also
contained oxygen yet were not acidic and acids such as HCl contained no oxygen yet had acidic properties
In 1815 Humphrey Davy proposed his theory that acids were substances that contained a hydrogen atom
which could be fully or partially replaced by a metal and form H2 gas. He came to this conclusion after he
studied acid metal reactions and noticed that hydrogen was released. E.g. H2SO4 (aq) + Zn (s) ZnSO4
(aq) + H2 (g). Under this theory many acids that did not contain oxygen were no considered to be acids such
as HCl, HBr and HI. However this theory could not explain certain substances containing Hydrogen such as
methane were not acidic
1884 – Arrhenius
In 1884 Svante Arrhenius put forward his theory basing it on particles which could not be seen. He noticed
that acids and bases conducted electricity and so they must contain ions. He concluded that an acid was
something that ionised to produce the H+ ion and the base ionised to give the OH- ion:
He also explained that in a neutralisation reaction it was actually this H+ which combined with an OH- to form
water:
But he could not explain the role of the solvent in acids, for e.g. HCl is not an acidic in Benzene but it is in
water, yet according to his theory it should be acidic in every solvent. Continued….
He also failed to explain why certain salts were acidic or basic, yet they should be neutral according to his
theory as occurs when a weak acid combines with a strong base or strong acid combines with a weak base.
It could be used to explain why some acids are strong whilst others are weak.
According to the Brönsted Lowry definition (1923), an acid is a substance which can donate a proton
(H+) to form its conjugate base. A base is a substance which can accept a proton (H+) to form its
conjugate acid. An acid base reaction is one which has a proton transferring from an acid to a base.
4.1.3 Describe the relationship between an acid and its conjugate base and a base and its conjugate
acid
When an acid loses one proton it forms its conjugate base, which has one less H+ than its acid.
When a base gains the proton, it forms its conjugate acid, which has one more H+ than the base.
4.1.4 Identify a range of salts which form acidic, basic or neutral solutions and explain their acidic,
neutral or basic nature
The salt that is formed NH4Cl is able to disassociate into its ions according to:
The Cl- is the weak conjugate base of the strong acid HCl and so does not further hydrolyse. The NH4+
is the strong cation of the weak base NH4OH and so will further hydrolyse.
The salt that is formed NaCH3COO is able to disassociate into its ions according to:
The Na+ part of the strong base will not further hydrolyse while CH3COO- being the conjugate base of
the weak acid will further hydrolyse according to:
CH3COO- (aq) + H2O (l) CH3COOH (aq) + OH- (aq)
However none of the ions further hydrolyse, rather disassociate into solution
The NH4+ is a cation of the weak base and the CH3COO- is the conjugate base of the weak acid. Both
will further hydrolyse according to
The pH of the final solution is 7 and thus they are neutral salts.
4.1.6 Identify amphiprotic substances and construct equations to describe their behaviour in acidic
and basic solutions
An amphiprotic species is one which is able to act as an acid or a base by being able to both accept
and donate a proton depending on the conditions. All amphiprotic substances are amphoteric.
However, some substances are amphoteric but not amphiprotic- they can act as an acid or base- but
they cannot both donate and accept protons, e.g. oxides of zinc and aluminium (Al2O3).
Water acting as an base (proton acceptor): H2O (l) + H+ (aq) H3O+ (aq)
Water acting as a acid (proton donor): H2O (l) + OH-(aq) H2O (l) + OH- (aq)
Hydrogen carbonate ion acting as an acid: OH-(aq) + HCO3-(aq) CO32- + H2O
Hydrogen carbonate ion acting as a base: H+(aq) + HCO3-(aq) H2CO3 (aq)
Sulfate ion acting as an acid: HSO4- (aq) + OH- (aq) SO42- (aq) H2O (l)
A neutralisation reaction is an exothermic reaction in which an acid and a base combine to form a
salt and water. E.g.
H+ (aq) + Cl- (aq) + Na+ (aq) + OH- (aq) Na+ (aq) + Cl- (aq) + H2O (l)
As we can see a proton has been transferred from the acid to the base to form water.
Questions
1. Different theories of acids and bases were developed by Lavoisier, Davy, Arrhenius and Brönsted-
Lowry. Sulfuric acid was classified as an acid by all of these scientists. Explain how each of their
theories predicted that H2SO4 is an acid. Support your answer with appropriate equations. (6 marks)
2. Show, using equations the amphiprotic nature of the hydrogen carbonate ion (HCO3-)