Solutions and Acids and

Bases
 Types of Attractions

• Ionic
• Covalent
• Hydrogen
• Van der Waals Forces
– Intermolecular force of attraction
– Due to uneven sharing of electrons in covalent bonds
– Slight attraction between oppositely charged regions of molecules that
are closely packed together
– Holds large molecules together
 Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic
Substances
• A hydrophilic substance is one that has an
affinity (likes!) for water
• A hydrophobic substance is one that does
not have an affinity (does NOT like; scared
of) for water

• Mixtures
– physically, not chemically mixed compounds
– Not necessarily evenly distributed
– Homogenous
• Evenly distributed
• Cannot see the different parts
– Heterogenous
• Not uniformly distributed
• you can see the parts
• Solution
– Homogenous Mixture
• components are uniformly distributed
– Solutes and solvents
– Ex. Salt water
• Suspension
– Mixture of water and non-dissolved material
– Some of the most biologically important substances
are both solutions and suspensions
• Ex. blood
 How water acts in solution
• Occasionally a water molecule
dissociates (breaks up) into ions
 H2O H+ + OH-
 This happens to every one water
molecule in a million in pure water…
not very common
– The H+ immediately reacts with
another water molecule in the
solution to make a HYDRONIUM ion
H30+

 Acids and Bases
• What do you know?

 Acids
• An acid is any substance that increases the H+
concentration of a solution
– ADDS H+ ions to water
– taste sour
– turn cabbage juice red
– turn blue litmus paper red
• Strong acids (LOW pH)
– Dissociate completely in water
– Adds LOTS of H+ ions
– Hydrochloric acid HCl
– HCl H+ and Cl-
• Weak Acids (pH slightly below 7)
– Partially dissociate in water
  ions
– Only add a little bit of H+ H     O
        |       //
– Coffee, tomato juice, acetic acid
H --C —C
 CH3COOH = CH3COO- + H+         |       \\
       H         O -

 Bases
• A base is any substance that reduces the H+ concentration
of a solution
• ADDS HYDROXIDE ions (OH-) to water
– OH- ions bind to any free H+ ions to make…a molecule of
water
– This does what to the concentration of H+ ions ion the
water?\
• DECREASE H+ ion concentration, therefore, making it basic
• Characteristics:
– taste bitter
– feels slimy
– turns cabbage juice yellow, green or blue depending upon
the solution concentration
– turns red litmus paper blue
• Strong Bases (pH High- close to 14)
– Completely dissociate in solution
– Adds LOTS of OH- ion to solutions
– NaOHsodium hydroxide NaOH Na+ and OH-
• Weak Bases
 Strong Acids and Bases
H C l - h yd ro ch lo ric LiOH - lithium hydroxide
a cid NaOH - sodium hydroxide
H N O 3 - nitricacid KOH - potassium hydroxide
RbOH - rubidium hydroxide
H 2SO4 - sulfuric CsOH - cesium hydroxide
acid
HBr - hydrobromic

DISSOCIATE COMPLETELY
acid
HI - hydroiodic acid
HClO4 - perchloric

What do you notice?

acid
 The pH Scale
• The pH of a solution is determined by the
relative concentration of hydrogen ions H+
– So it is really measuring how acidic something is
– formula is..
– pH=-log[H+]
• Negative means opposite, this is why a low pH has
MORE H+ ions
• [x] means concentration
• Acidic solutions have pH values less than 7
– More H+ ions
• Basic solutions have pH values greater than 7
– More OH- ions, less H+ ions
• Most biological fluids have pH values in the
range of 6 to 8
LE 3-8
pH Scale
0

1
Battery
acid
2 Digestive
( stomach )
juice , lemon

Increasingly
3 Vinegar
juice , beer ,

[H + ] > [OH – ]
wine ,
cola
4 Tomato

Acidic
juice
5 Black
coffee
Rainwater
6 Urine

Neutral
[H + ] = [OH – ] 7 Pure water
Human blood
8
Seawater
9

10
Increasingly

Milk of
[H + ] < [OH – ]

magnesia
11
Household ammonia
Basic

12
Household
13 bleach
Oven
14 cleaner
 Buffers

• The internal pH of most living cells must

remain close to pH 7
• Buffers are substances that minimize
changes in concentrations of H+ and OH-
in a solution
– Weak acids are a buffer for strong bases
– Weak bases are a buffer for strong acids
• Most buffers consist of an acid-base pair
that reversibly combines with H+
 Acids and Bases in the Living
Things
• Changes in concentrations of H+ and
OH- can drastically affect the
chemistry of a cell
• When you breath…
•
•
• CO2 + H2O ⇌ H+ + HCO-3
• Carbon dioixde water hydrogen ion bicarbonate ion
 The Threat of Acid
•
Precipitation
Acid precipitation refers to rain, snow, or
fog with a pH lower than 5.6
• Acid precipitation is caused mainly by the
mixing of different pollutants with water
in the air
• Acid precipitation can damage life in lakes
and streams
• Effects of acid precipitation on soil
chemistry are contributing to the decline
of some forests
LE 3-9

0 More
1 acidi
c
2
3 Acid
rain
4
5
Normal
6 rain
7
8
9
1
01
11
21
More
31 basi
4 c