ACIDS AND BASES

Lesson 1
Arrhenius Theory
Bronsted-Lowry Theory
 History of Acids and Bases
In the early days of chemistry chemists were organizing
physical and chemical properties of substances. They
discovered that many substances could be placed in two
different property categories:
Substance A Substance B
1. Sour taste 1. Bitter taste
2. Reacts with carbonates to make CO2 2. Reacts with fats to make soaps

3. Reacts with metals to produce H2 3. Do not react with metals

4. Turns red litmus blue
4. Turns blue litmus pink
5. Reacts with A substances make
5. Reacts with B substances to make
salt and water
salt water

Arrhenius was the first person to suggest a reason why

substances are in A or B due to their ionization in water.
 Arrhenius Theory
The Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius proposed the first
definition of acids and bases.
(Substances A and B became
known as acids and bases)
According to the Arrhenius model:

acids are substances that dissociate in water to

produce H+ ions and bases are substances that
dissociate in water to produce OH- ions

NaOH (aq) Na+ (aq) + OH- (aq) Base

HCl (aq) H+ (aq) + Cl- (aq) Acid
Acids and Bases
Before
HCl(g) H+(aq) + Cl-(aq)

Acids dissociate in water

H+ and Cl- ions floating around in water

Not really the case.

Acids and Bases
ydrogen
1 proton, 1 electron

When it forms an ion it loses an electron

H+
Because it loses its electron we call H+ ions a proton

Reactions where H+ ions are transferred from one thing to

another are called proton transfers
Acids and Bases
harge on H+ ions is very small, and very concentrated
Because of this it is attracted to anything remotely negative

Recall Lewis Dot structures.

Oxygen 6 valence electrons

Hydrogen 1 valence electron

Acids and Bases
hen they form water they shared electrons

xygen has more electrons and because of the shared

electrons are closer to oxygen then Hydrogen

his makes water a polar covalent molecule

more electrons close to oxygen end of the water molecule,
that end has a partial negative charge.
Less electrons around the hydrogen end that ends a has a
partial positive charge:
Acids and Bases
Acids and Bases
artial negative charge on oxygen very attractive to our H+
ion
H+ will sit on one of electrons pairs of oxygen atoms
Brings a positive charge

H3O+ hydronium ion

This ion will always form when an acids is dissolved in water
H+ ion from acid will always go to nearest molecule to from H 3O+
Acids and Bases
or this reason, a hydronium ion a hydrated proton.
Adding water to something is called hydration.
So if you were a proton, you would have a water molecule added
to you.

All acid solutions contain hydronium (H3O+) ions. It is the

hydronium ion which gives all acids their properties (like
sour taste, indicator colours, reactivity with metals etc. )

Cl(g) H+(aq) + Cl-(aq) NO

Cl(g) + H2O(l) H3O+(aq) + Cl-(aq) YES!!

Acids and Bases
Th
e proton (H+) has been transferred from the HCl molecule to a water
molecule, to form a hydronium (H3O+) ion and a Cl- ion.
Th
is type of reaction is called ionization (because ions are being formed)

NO
T an H atom that is moving. The H atom leaves its electron behind
with the Cl, so it is H+ (a proton) that moves to the water molecule.
The Cl-, now having the electron that H left behind, gains a negative
charge.
Acids and Bases
ll acids behave similarly in water; they donate (or give) a
proton (H+) to the water, forming hydronium ion (H3O+)
and the negative ion of the acid.

nother example might be the ionization of nitric acid

(HNO3):

HNO3 (l) + H2O (l) H3O+(aq) + NO3-(aq)

Acids and Bases
OT A WORKSHEETbut more practice problems!

omplete equations for the following acids ionizing in

water:

HClO (g)
H2SO4 (l) (assume only 1 H+ is removed.)
CH3COOH (l) (assume the H on the right end
comes off.)
HSO4- (aq)
Bronsted-Lowry Definition of Acids
and Bases
Yo
u might recall that the definition of an acid according to Arrhenius
was a substance that released H+ ions (protons) in water.

Br
onsted and Lowry came up with a theory which is more useful when
dealing with equilibrium and covers a wider range of substances.

Br
onsted-Lowry:
An acid is any substance which donates (gives) a proton (H+) to another
substance.
A base is any substance which accepts (takes) a proton from another substance
-
OR-
A Bronsted Acid is a proton donor
A Bronsted Base is a proton acceptor
Bronsted-Lowry Definition of Acids
and Bases

HCl + H2O H3O+ + Cl-

We
see that the HCl is donating the proton and the water is accepting the proton.

Th
erefore HCl is the Bronsted acid and H2O is the Bronsted base.

HCl + H2O H3O+ + Cl-

acid base
Bronsted-Lowry Definition of Acids
and Bases
NH3
+ H2O NH4+ + OH-

Now,
the NH3 on the left has changed into NH4+ on the right, that means it
must have accepted (taken) a proton.
Since it has accepted a proton its called a base.

The
H2O, this time has donated (lost) a proton as it changed into OH-.
Since it has donated a proton its called an acid.

So now
we can label these:
NH3
+ H2O NH4+ + OH-
base
acid
Bronsted-Lowry Definition of Acids
and Bases
Water
is an acid and base?
Sometimes water acts like a base (takes a proton) and sometimes it acts like an acid
(donates a proton).

This is
just like you. If you buy something (donate money) you are a buyer. If you sell
something (accept money), you are a seller. Im sure you have been both at
various times.

Animal
s that can live either in the water or on land are called amphibians. (Yes, this is
still Chemistry just in case youre wondering!)

For
things that can be either / or , we can use the prefix amphi
A
substance that can act as either an acid or a base is called amphiprotic.
Bronsted-Lowry Definition of Acids
and Bases
W
ater (H2O) is an example of an amphiprotic substance. When it
was with HCl, it acted like a base, but when it was with NH3, it acted
like an acid.

N
ot only molecules can lose or gain protons. Ions can too
W
hen something loses a proton (acts as an acid), it turns into
something with one less H and one less (+) charge

When something accepts a proton (acts as a base), it turns into
something with one more H and one more (+) charge

S
o what you have to do is look at the right side of the equation, and
see whether the substance gained or lost a proton.
Bronsted-Lowry Definition of Acids
and Bases
HCO
3- + HSO4- H2CO3 + SO42-

HCO
3- must have accepted a proton to form H2CO3
So it is the base.
HSO
4- must have donated a proton to form SO42-
so it must be the acid.

so
the answer is:
HCO
3- + HSO4- H2CO3 + SO42-

base acid