ACIDS AND BASES ARE EVERYWHERE

GENERAL DEFINITIONS Acid : a substance which when added to water produces hydrogen ions [H+]. It has a pH value below 7. Base : a substance which when added to water produces hydroxide ions [OH-]. It has a pH value above 7.

PROPERTIES Acids: A solution that has an excess of H+ ions. It comes from the Latin word acidus, which means "sharp" or "sour". It reacts with zinc, magnesium, or aluminum and form hydrogen (H2(g)). It reacts with compounds containing CO32- and form carbon dioxide and water. Acids neutralize bases in a neutralization reaction. An acid and a base combine to make salts and water. A salt is any ionic compound that could be made with the anion (atoms which gained electrons) of an acid and the cation (atoms that have lost an electron to become positively charge) of a base. The hydrogen ion of the acid and the hydroxide ion of the base unite to form water. It turns blue litmus to red, but exhibits no change with red litmus paper. It tastes sour (lemons contain citric acid, for example). An acid is said to be a strong one when it has a very low pH ranging from 0-4. An acid is weak when it only partially ionizes in an aqueous solution. This means that not every molecule breaks apart. Weak acids usually have a pH close to 7 (36).

Bases: A solution that has an excess of OH- ions. Another word for base is alkali. Feel soapy or slippery. It turns red litmus blue, but exhibits no change with blue litmus paper. They react with most cations to precipitate hydroxides Bases neutralize acids in a neutralization reaction. They combine to make salt and water. It tastes bitter (ever get soap in your mouth?) A base is said to be a strong one when it has a very high pH ranging from 10-14. A base is weak when it only partially ionizes in an aqueous solution. This means that not every molecule breaks apart. Weak bases usually have a pH close to 7 (810).

Neutral: A solution that has a pH of 7. It is neither acidic nor basic. A solution in which the concentration of hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions are equal

* Aqueous: A solution that is mainly water. Think about the word aquarium. AQUA means water.

* The pH scale is actually a measure of the number of H+ ions in a solution. If there are a lot of H+ ions, the pH is very low. If there are a lot of OH- ions compared to the number of H+ ions, the pH is high. The closer to pH 0 you go, the more strongly acidic a solution is, however, the closer to pH 14 you go, the more strongly alkaline a solution is. The pH value can be measured using the pH meter or the pH paper.

STRONG ACIDS AND STRONG BASES Strong Acids These are the 6 strong acids. What makes them 'strong' is that they completely dissociate into their ions (H+ and an anion) when they are mixed with water. Any other acid is a weak acid. 1. HCl - hydrochloric acid 2. HNO3 - nitric acid 3. H2SO4 - sulfuric acid 4. HBr - hydrobromic acid 5. HI - hydroiodic acid 6. HClO4 - perchloric acid As the strong acids become more concentrated, they may be unable to fully dissociate. The rule of thumb is that a strong acid is 100% dissociated in solutions of 1.0 M or less.

Strong Bases Strong bases are bases which completely dissociate in water into the cation and OH- (hydroxide ion). The hydroxides of the Group I and Group II metals usually are considered to be strong bases. Here is a list of the most common strong bases. 1. LiOH - lithium hydroxide 2. NaOH - sodium hydroxide 3. KOH - potassium hydroxide 4. RbOH - rubidium hydroxide 5. CsOH - cesium hydroxide 6. Ca(OH)2 - calcium hydroxide 7. Sr(OH)2 - strontium hydroxide 8. Ba(OH)2 - barium hydroxide These bases completely dissociate in solutions of 0.01 M or less. The other bases make solutions of 1.0 M and are 100% dissociated at that concentration. There are other strong bases than those listed, but they are not often encountered.

THREE MODELS OF ACIDS AND BASES: 1. Arrhenius Model Basis for the model - action in water acid definition: produces H in water solution 1 base definition: produces OH in water solution 2. Bronsted-Lowry Model Basis for the model - proton transfer acid definition: donates a proton ( H) base definition: accepts a proton conjugate acid definition: the acid becomes the conjugate base after it donates the proton because it can now accept it back. conjugate base definition: the base becomes the conjugate acid after it accepts the proton because it can now donate it back. 3. Lewis Model Basis for model - electron pair transfer acid definition: accepts a pair of electrons base definition: donates a pair of electrons

INDICATORS OF ACIDS AND BASES The pH Ranges of Common Indicators Indicator pH range Color it turns if pH is below range 1. Methyl violet 0.0 - 1.6 Yellow 2. Methyl yellow 2.9 4.0 Red 3. Bromophenol blue 3.0 4.6 Yellow 4. Methyl orange 3.2 4.4 Red 5. Methyl red 4.8 6.0 Red 6. Litmus paper 5.5 8.0 Red 7. Bromothymol blue 6.0 7.6 Yellow 8. Phenol red 6.6 8.0 Yellow 9. Phenolphthalein 8.2 10.6 Colorless 10. Thymolphthalein 9.4 10.6 Colorless 11. Alizarin yellow 10.0 12.0 Yellow

Color it turns if pH is above range Blue Yellow Blue Yellow Yellow Blue Blue Red Red Blue Red

Indicators change color over a relatively narrow pH range. The ph ranges for common indicators are shown in the chart above. If a given solution makes methyl orange turn yellow and blue litmus turn red, then the solution has a pH of between 4.4 and 5.5. Chemically treated paper called pH paper also can tell the approximate acidity and of a solution. When a pH paper is wetted with a solution, it turns a color characteristic of the acidity of the solution.

*The pH paper

*The Universal Indicator Chart