Chapter 19: Acids &

Bases
Properties of Acids & Bases
• Acid: substance dissociates to form H+ in solution
• Tastes sour
• Feels sticky
• Conductor of electricity
• Turns blue litmus red
• Example: HCl

• Base: substance dissociates to form OH- (hydroxide)

in solution
• Tastes bitter
• Feels slippery
• Conductor of electricity
• Turns red litmus blue
• Example: NaOH
Arrhenius Model
• Arrhenius model:
• Traditional definition for acids and bases
• States that an acid is a substance that contains hydrogen and ionizes to produce
hydrogen ions in aqueous solution, and a base is a substance that contains a
hydroxide group and dissociates to produce a hydroxide ion in solution.

– HCl ionizes to produce H+ ions.

HCl(g) → H+(aq) + Cl–(aq)
– NaOH dissociates to produce OH– ions.
NaOH(s) → Na+(aq) + OH–(aq)
* Some solutions produce hydroxide ions even though they do not contain a
hydroxide group.
• The usual solvent for acids and bases is water—
water produces equal numbers of hydrogen and
hydroxide ions in a process called self-ionization.

H2O(l) ↔ H+(aq) + OH–(aq)

In reality: H2O(l) + H2O(l) ↔ H3O+(aq) + OH–(aq)
The hydronium ion is H3O+. The symbols H+ and H3O+ can be used
interchangeably.
Brønsted-Lowry Model
• Brønsted-Lowry Model:
• More general definition for acids and bases
• States that an acid is a hydrogen ion donor and a base is a hydrogen ion acceptor
** NH3 is a Brønsted-Lowry base, but not an Arrhenius base

NH3 (aq) + H2O (l) NH4+ (aq) + OH- (aq)

- H2O (acting as an acid) donates a proton to ammonia
- NH3 (acting as a base) accepts a proton from water

• Conjugate acid: the species produced when a base accepts a hydrogen ion
• (NH4+ in the above reaction)
• Conjugate base: the species produced when an acid donates a hydrogen
ion
• (OH- in example)
• Conjugate acid-base pair: consists of two substances related to each other
by donating and accepting a single hydrogen ion
Hydrogen fluoride—a Brønsted-Lowry acid

HF(aq) + H2O(l) ↔ H3O+(aq) + F–(aq)

HF = acid, H2O = base,
H3O+ = conjugate acid, F– = conjugate base
 HNO2 (aq) + H2O (l)  NO2- (aq) + H3O+ (aq)

Water and other substances that can act as acids or bases are called amphoteric.
Monoprotic and Polyprotic Acids
• Monoprotic Acid: an acid that can donate only one
hydrogen ion
• Only ionizable hydrogen atoms can be donated

• Polyprotic Acid: an acid that can donate more than one hydrogen ion
Strength of Acids
• Strong Acids: acids that ionize completely
• Because they produce the maximum number of hydrogen ions, strong acids are good
conductors of electricity
• Conjugate bases are usually weak
• HCl, HBr, HI, HNO3, HClO3, HClO4, H2SO4

• Weak Acids: acids that ionize only partially in dilute solutions

Strength of Bases

• Strong Base: a base

that dissociates
completely into metal
ions and hydroxide ions
• Alkali metals or heavier
alkaline earth metals
• Weak base: ionizes
only partially in dilute
aqueous solution
 pH
pH scale: measure of the acidity of an aqueous solution

- Concentrations of H+ ions are often small numbers

expressed in exponential notation
- pH is the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion
concentration of a solution. Changing [H+] by a factor of 10
causes the pH to change by 1 unit

pH = -log [H+]

- Litmus paper and a pH meter with electrodes can

determine the pH of a solution.
pOH
• pOH of a solution is the negative logarithm of the hydroxide
ion concentration

pOH = -log [OH-]

• The sum of pH and pOH equals 14

Practice
• Calculate the [H+] and [OH-] when pH = 7.40

• Calculate the pH and pOH when [OH-] = 4.0x10-3M

Neutralization
• A neutralization reaction is a reaction in which an
acid and a base in an aqueous solution react to
produce a salt and water.
• A salt is an ionic compound made up of a cation
from a base and an anion from an acid.
• Neutralization is a double-replacement reaction.
Titrations
• Titration is a method for determining the
concentration of a solution by reacting a known
volume of that solution with a solution of known
concentration.
• In a titration procedure, a measured volume of an
acid or base of unknown concentration is placed in
a beaker, and initial pH recorded.
• A buret is filled with the titrating solution of known
concentration, called a titrant.
• Measured volumes of the standard solution are
added slowly and mixed into the solution in the
beaker, and the pH is read and recorded after each
addition. The process continues until the reaction
reaches the equivalence point, which is the point at
which moles of H+ ion from the acid equals moles
of OH– ion from the base.
• An abrupt change in pH occurs at the equivalence
point.
• Chemical dyes whose color are affected by acidic
and basic solutions are called acid-base indicators.
• An end point is the point at which an indicator used
in a titration changes color.
• An indicator will change color at the equivalence
point.
Molarity from Titration
• ** Must have a balanced equation**
• Use stoichiometry

A volume of 18.28mL of a standard solution of

0.1000M NaOH was required to neutralize 25.00 mL
of a solution of methanoic acid (HCOOH). What is the
molarity of the acid solution
• What is the molarity of nitric acid solution is 43.33
mL of 0.1000M KOH solution is needed to
neutralize 20.00 mL of the acid solution.
• How many milliliters of 0.500 M NaOH would
neutralize 25.00 mL of 0.100M H3PO4.