7.2 & 7.

3 Student Worksheet

Acids, Bases & the pH Scale

The pH scale measures how acidic or basic a substance is. In this activity,
you will learn about acids and bases, and where they are found on the
pH scale.

Task #1
Use any resources available to answer the following questions.

1. Why is the pH scale given that name?

2. Label the arrow below representing the pH scale using the following terms: acids, bases, neutral, 0, 7,
14, pure water, vinegar, bleach

3. The pH scale is logarithmic. Explain what this means, using an example (e.g. compare the pH of lemon
juice to that of milk – see fig. 2 on pg. 272).

4. a) What component of a compound makes it an acid? _________________________________

b) What component of a compound makes it a base? ________________________________

5. Consider the chemical formula for water. Explain how its structure means that water will always be
neutral.

6. Many skincare products are marked as being “pH Balanced”. What does this mean, and approximately
what pH would you expect these products to be?
 Task #2

1. Classify the following compounds as an acid or base:

a) HF (aq) __________ d) H2S (aq) __________
b) HNO3 (aq) __________ e) NaHCO3 (aq) __________
c) Ca(OH)2 (aq) __________ f) NH4OH (aq) __________

2. What part of the formula did you look at to classify the substances above?

3. Why should you be careful not to inhale hydrogen chloride?

4. a) What is an indicator? ________________________________________________________________

b) If you were to put phenolphthalein into vinegar, what colour would it be? ___________

c) If you were to use red litmus paper and dip it into some bleach, what colour would it turn? _______

5. Use the Venn diagram to compare and contrast the properties of acids and bases:

Task #3 (naming acids/nomenclature)

1. Binary acids: _________________________________________________________________________

2. Oxyacids: ___________________________________________________________________________
→All acids combine with hydrogen ions so that the molecule has a neutral charge of 0.
→ Oxyacids that contain polyatomics ending in ‘ate’ will have acid names that end in ‘ic’
→Oxyacids that contain polyatomics ending in ‘ite’ will have acid names that end in ‘ous’

Formula Acid Name Formula Acid Name

H2SO4 (aq) HBr (aq)
HNO2 (aq) H2S (aq)
HNO3 (aq) HBr (aq)