Chapter 14 – Acids and Bases

H versus OH
+ -

An acidic solution contains more hydrogen ions

than hydroxide ions. Taste sour, sharp (tart).
A basic solution contains more hydroxide ions
than hydrogen ions. Taste bitter, feel
slippery.
A neutral solution contains equal
concentrations of hydrogen ions & hydroxide
ions.
 Arrhenius Model of Acids & Bases
An acid is a substance A base is a substance that has a
hydroxide group and dissociates
that contains hydrogen to produce hydroxide ions ( OH -
& ionizes to produce ) when it dissolves in water.
hydrogen ions ( H + ) Ex. NaOH
when it dissociates in
water.
Ex. HCl

A neutral substance produces equal numbers of H

+
and OH – .
Ex. H2O
 Chemical Equations of an acid/base that dissociates in water.
Acids Bases
HF RbOH

HNO2 CsOH

H2CrO4 Sr(OH)2

H2Se Ba(OH)2

H3AsO4 Ga(OH)3
A strong acid is an acid that dissociates completely.
There are 6 strong acids:
HI HClO4
HBr HCl
H2SO4 HNO3

A weak acid is one that only partially dissociates.

Any acid that is not a strong acid is weak
HC2H3O2 HF
H2S H3PO4
 Dissociation of Acids
HNO3 (aq) + H2O (l) 

HBr (aq) + H2O (l) 

H2SO4 (aq) + H2O (l) 

HC2H3O2 (aq) + H2O (l) 

A strong base is a base that dissociates completely.
All strong bases are hydroxides with group 1A or 2A

NaOH KOH
Mg(OH)2 Ca(OH)2

A weak base is one that only partially dissociates.

All other bases
 Dissociation of Bases
KOH (aq) + H2O (l) 

Ca(OH)2 (aq) + H2O (l) 

 Bronsted-Lowry Model

Johannes Bronsted and Thomas Lowry each

developed a similar model for defining acids and
bases in 1923.

An acid is a hydrogen- A base is a hydrogen

ion donor. ion acceptor.
 Bronsted-Lowry Model

Acid: H+ donor Base: H+ acceptor

HCl Cl-
HBr Br-
H2SO4 HSO4-
HNO3 OH-
H2S NH3
HClO F-

HI
H3O+
CH3-
 Bronsted-Lowry Model
Acid: H+ donor Conjugate base
Base: H+ acceptor Conjugate acid

HCOOH + CN- ↔ HCOO- + HCN

Acid Base Conj. Base Conj. Acid

CO32- + NH4+ ↔ HCO3- + NH3

Base Acid Conj. Acid Conj. Base
 Bronsted-Lowry Model
Acid: H+ donor Conjugate base
Base: H+ acceptor Conjugate acid

NH3 + H2O ↔ NH4+ + OH –

Base Acid Conj. Acid Conj. Base

CH3COOH + H2O ↔ H3O+ + CH3COO -

Acid Base Conj. Base Conj. Acid

Something that can act like both an acid and a base,

like H2O, is said to be amphoteric.
 Arrhenius Bronsted-Lowry

• Acid: Anything that • Acid: “H+” donor

produces “H+” when it
dissolves in water

• Base: Anything that

produces “OH-” when it • Base: “H+” acceptor
dissolves in water

• Neutral: Produces the • Amphoteric:

same # of “H+” as “OH-” Can donate or accept
when it dissolves in “H+”
water
A monoprotic acid only has one acidic
hydrogen
HCl or HBr

A polyprotic acid contains more than one acidic

hydrogen
H2SO4 or H3PO4
Monoprotic or Polyprotic Acid/Base?
• HClO
• HCN
• AgOH
• Fe(OH)2
• Fe(OH)3
• H3PO4
• H2S
• H3N
 Lewis Acids & Bases
• Lewis acid = electron
pair acceptor (BF3)

• Lewis base = electron

pair donor (NH3)
 What happens when an acid is mixed with a base?

A neutralization reaction is a reaction in which an acid

and a base react in aqueous solution 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 Reaction:
salt & water

H3PO4 + KOH 

Acid: ___________ Salt: ________

Base: ___________ Salt Cation: ________
Salt Anion: ________
 Neutralization Reaction
salt & water
H2SO4 + Ca(OH)2 

Acid: ___________ Salt: ________

Base: ___________ Salt Cation: ________
Salt Anion: ________
 Neutralization Reaction
salt & water
HCl + Al(OH)3 

Acid: ___________ Salt: ________

Base: ___________ Salt Cation: ________
Salt Anion: ________
 Neutralization Reaction
salt & water
HC2H3O2 + KOH 

Acid: ___________ Salt: ________

Base: ___________ Salt Cation: ________
Salt Anion: ________
 Auto Ionization of Water
• Water breaks itself apart into OH- and H+

• Kw is the ionization constant of water

Kw = 1 x 10-14 = [OH-][H+]
What is the concentration of [H+] if the
concentration of [OH-] is 1.53 x 10-9?
What is the concentration of [H+] in 1.0 x 10-2 M
NaOH?
 pH Calculations

pH is a measure of the concentration of H + in the

solution.
Solutions with a pH under 7 are acidic. Solutions
with a pH greater than 7 are basic.

pH = -log [H+]
 pH Calculations

pH = -log [H+]

What is the pH of a solution whose [H+] is 2.0 x 10-4 M?

 pH Calculations

pH = -log [H+]

What is the pH of a solution of 0.0001 M HCl?

 pOH Calculations

pOH is a measure of the concentration of OH- in the

solution.
Solutions with a pOH greater than 7 are acidic. Solutions
with a pOH less than 7 are basic.

pOH = -log [OH-]

14 = pOH + pH
What is the pOH of a solution of 8.2 x 10-6 M [OH-]?

What is the pOH of a solution of 5.32 x 10-3 M HCl?

What is the concentration of H+ in a solution
that has a pH of 4.3?
What is the concentration of OH- in a solution
that has a pH of 9.2?
 Titration
• A laboratory method for determining the
concentration of an unknown acid or base
using a neutralization reaction.

• A standard solution,(a solution of known

concentration), is used.
 Equivalence Point
• The point at which there are
stoichiometrically equivalent amounts of acid
and base.

• [H+] = [OH-]
 Indicators
• Indicators are chosen, such that they change colors
at the range of the pH of interest.

• Typically we use phenolpthalein which changes

from clear to pink at a pH of 7
 Buret

Valve
Acid with
End-Point
Phenolpthalein
 Methods of Solving Titration Problems:

a) using stoichiometry

b) using the titration formula aMaVa=bMbVb.

What is the concentration of HCl if 30.0 mL of 0.10 M
NaOH neutralizes 50.0mL HCl?
NaOH + HCl  H2O + NaCl
A 20.0 mL solution of Sr(OH)2 is neutralized
after 25.0 mL of standard 0.05 M HCl is
added. What is the concentration of Sr(OH)2?
2 HCl + Sr(OH)2  2 H2O + SrCl2
• How many mL of 0.20 M H3PO4 are needed to
neutralize 55.0 mL of a 0.10 M solution of
NaOH?
• What volume of 0.20M Ca(OH)2 will
neutralize 45.0 mL of a 1M solution of HClO3?