SUMMARY OF UNIT 7

ACIDS
Acidus” Greek for “sour”
Definition: “A substance which ionizes to give H+ ions when dissolved in water”
E.g. HCl H+ + Cl -
so HCl is an acid
NaCl Na+ + Cl -
but NaCl is not an acid
 Can conduct electricity in solutions (because of freely moving ions)
 Corrosive i.e. cause burns
 Turn blue litmus red
Common laboratory acids:
Strong: Hydrochloric Acid, HCl Sulphuric acid, H2SO4 Nitric Acid, HNO3
Weak: Phosphoric Acid, H3PO4 Ethanoic Acid, CH3COOH
Strong and Weak Acids
Strong acids = completely dissociate into ions in an aqueous solution
Weak acids = incompletely dissociate into ions in an aqueous solution
BASES
Any substance which can react with an acid to form a salt is called a base.

BASES
Metal Oxides
Metal Hydroxides

ALKALI
Group 1
Hydroxides and
Group 2
Hydroxides
Usually water soluble

ALKALI
Have a bitter taste and slippery to touch
-
Definition: “A substance which ionizes to give OH ions when dissolved in water”
+ -
E.g. KOH K + OH

so KOH is an alkali
+ -
KBr K + Br

but KBr is not an alkali

• Can conduct electricity in solutions (because of freely moving ions)
• Corrosive if concentrated
• Turns red litmus blue
Common laboratory alkalis:
Strong: Potassium hydroxide, KOH Sodium Hydroxide, NaOH
Calcium Hydroxide, Ca(OH)2
Weak: Aqueous ammonia, NH3
INDICATOR
Substances which indicate whether something is an acid or an alkali e.g. litmus
paper

Common Indicators

The pH scale:
Used to measure the degree of acidity of an acid or degree of alkalinity of an alkali
indicating the concentration of H+ ions in the acid and OH- ions in the alkali (simply
speaking, tells you how much acidic is an acid and how much alkaline is an alkali)
Measuring pH
Dip the universal indicator paper in the acidic/alkaline solution. Indicator paper
changes color. Match it with the color chart to find the pH

The most accurate method to

measure the pH of any solution
is to use a digital pH probe.
It has an electrode which is dipped
in the sample solution and a pH
reading is displayed on the meter
based on the concentration of
H+ ions in the solution.

Reactions of Acids: RedOx Alert

1 Acid + Metal Salt + Hydrogen Gas This is a redox reaction because the metal is
being oxidized (loosing electrons)
2HCl + Mg MgCl2 + H2
Mg0 Mg2+ + 2e-
HNO3 + Na NaNO3 + H2
and H+ is being reduced (gaining electrons)
H2SO4 + Fe FeSO4 + H2 2H+ + 2e- H2

Remember: Test for Hydrogen Gas

Test: Introduce a lightened splint
Result: Lightened splint goes off
(extinguishes) with a pop sound
2 Acid + Carbonate Salt + Water and Carbondixode Carbonates are
compound which
HCl + CaCO3 CaCl2 + H2O + CO2 contain the
carbonate anion,
HNO3 + Na2CO3 NaNO3 + H2O + CO2
CO32-
H2SO4 + ZnCO3 ZnSO4 + H2O + CO2
3 Acid + Base/Alkali Salt + Water Remember: Test for CO2
Test: Pass through limewater
HCl + NaOH NaCl + H2O
Result: Limewater turns
6HNO3 + Fe2O3 2Fe(NO3)3 + 3H2O cloudy (milky)

H2SO4 + Ca(OH)2 CaSO4 + H2O

Reactions of Bases/Alkali:
Reactions of acid with base
1 Base/Alkali + Acid Salt + Water to form a salt are called
neutralization reactions
MgO + HNO3 Mg(NO3)2 + H2O
Neutralization reactions are
Fe(OH)2 + HCl FeCl2 + H2O NOT redox reactions.
KOH + H3PO4 K3PO4 + H2O
2 Base/Alkali + Ammonium salts Ammonia + Salt + Water
KOH + NH4Cl NH3 + KCl + H2O Salts which contain
the Ammonium
3NaOH + (NH4)3PO4 3NH3 + Na3PO4 + 3H2O
cation, NH4+ are
CaO + (NH4)2SO4 2NH3 + CaSO4 + H2O called ammonium
salts
Ca(OH)2 + 2NH4NO3 2NH3 + Ca(NO3)2 + 2H2O
Note:
Acid rain can cause soil to become acidic and unsuitable to grow crops.
A solution of Calcium hydroxide (limewater), Ca(OH)2 is sprayed on the fields to
neutralize the acidity in the soil. This is called liming of soil.
Ammonium salts are mostly used as fertilizers. Fertilizers are used to increase crop
yield. By providing essential nutrients to the plants.
When fertilizers (ammonium salts) are added to soil along with adding Ca(OH)2, an
alkali, the nitrogen content of the fertilizer is lowered because, they both react
together and form NH3 gas which escapes.
OXIDES
A binary compound of oxygen with one other element.
Types of Oxides:
1. Acidic Oxides
 Oxides of non-metals
 Covalent compounds hence low melting and boiling points.
 Are usually gases or volatile liquids at room temperature
Acidic oxides (non-metal oxides) can react with water to form acidic solutions
E.g. Carbondioxide + Water Carbonic Acid
CO2 + H2O H2CO3
Sulphur trioxide + Water Sulphuric Acid
SO3 + H2O H2SO4
Acidic oxides (non-metal oxides) can neutralize bases to form salt.
E.g. Carbondioxide + Sodium Hydroxide Sodium carbonate + water
CO2 + NaOH Na2CO3 + H2O
Sulphur trioxide + Calcium oxide Calcium sulphate + water
SO3 + Ca(OH)2 CaSO4 + H2O
Acidic oxides (non-metal oxides) will not react\dissolve in acids.
2. Basic Oxides
 Oxides of metals
 Ionic compounds hence high melting and boiling points
 Usually solids at room temperature
Basic oxides (metal oxides) can react with water to give alkaline solutions*
Sodium Oxide + Water Sodium Hydroxide
Na2O + H2O 2NaOH
Basic oxides (metal oxides) can neutralize acids to form salt
Magnesium oxide + Hydrochloric acid Magnesium chloride + water
MgO + 2HCl MgCl2 + H2O
Basic oxides (metal oxides) will not react\dissolve in alkali\bases
3. Amphoteric Oxide
 Zinc oxide and Aluminium oxide are Amphoteric oxide
Amphoteric Oxide can react with both acids and bases. When reacting with acids,
they behave as a base, when reacting with a base, they behave as an acid
E.g.
aluminium oxide + hydrochloric acid Aluminium chloride + water
2Al2O3 + 6HCl 2AlCl3 + 3H2O Al2O3 behaving as a base

aluminium oxide + Sodium hydroxide Sodium aluminate** + water

Al2O3 + 2NaOH 2NaAlO2 + H2O Al2O3 behaving as an acid

Amphoteric oxides will not react\dissolve in both acids and alkali

4. Neutral Oxides
 Carbon monoxide and Dinitrogen monoxide are considered neutral oxide.
That is, they neither react with acids nor bases.

Writing Ionic equations for these reactions

Ionic equations are helpful because they show us the actual chemical change
happening in the reaction.
It is important that you remember solubility of different salts in order to write ionic
equations for any reaction in a jiffy
Follow these simple rules:
 Write the balanced chemical equation for the reaction
 Ionize (separate into ions) all aqueous (soluble) substance and write any
covalent molecules (gases and/or liquids) and insoluble salt as it is ( do not
ionize gases, liquids and insoluble salts)
  Cancel out the spectator ions (ions which appear both sides of the equation
unchanged)
 Write the remaining equation. This is your ionic equation.
Examples
Mg + 2HCl MgCl2 + H2
Mg + 2H+ + 2Cl- Mg2+ + 2Cl- + H2
Mg + 2H+ Mg2+ + H2
2KOH + H2SO4 K2SO4 + 2H2O
2K+ 2OH- + 2H+ + SO42- 2K+ + SO42- + 2H2O
2H+ + 2OH- 2H2O
Na2CO3 + 2HNO3 2NaNO3 + CO2 + H2O
2Na+ + CO32- + 2H+ + 2NO3- 2Na+ + 2NO3- + CO2 + H2O
CO32- + 2H+ CO2 + H2O
(NH4)2SO4 + 2NaOH 2NH3 + Na2SO4 + 2H2O
2NH4+ + SO42- + 2Na+ + 2OH- 2NH3 + 2Na+ + SO42- + 2H2O
2NH4+ + 2OH- 2NH3 + 2H2O
Displacement reaction in
2NaBr + Cl2 2NaCl + Br2
Halogens, where more reactive
2Na+ + 2Br- + Cl2 2Na+ + 2Cl- + Br2 halogen displaces (oxidizes) the
less reactive halogen from its
2Br- + Cl2 2Cl- + Br2 solution

2AgNO3 + BaCl2 AgCl + Ba(NO3)2 This reaction, called

precipitation reaction.
2Ag+ + NO3- + Ba2+ + 2Cl- AgCl + Ba2+ + 2NO3- Where two soluble
solutions (aq) make one
2Ag+ + 2Cl- 2AgCl insoluble product. This
is also NOT a redox
SALTS reaction
Salts are ionic compounds made by a neutralization reaction of an acid with a base
where the hydrogen ion of the acid is replaced by a metallic cation.