14: ACIDS AND BASES

An Introductory Chemistry Libretext for College of Marin

Chem 114 - Introductory Chemistry

Prof. Paul Daubenmire

Chapter 1  •  Chapter 2  •  Chapter 3  •  Chapter 4   •  Chapter 5   •  Chapter 6   •  Chapter 7  •  Chapter 8

Chapter 9  •  Chapter 10  •  Chapter 11  •  Chapter 12  •  Chapter 13   •  Chapter 14  

Acids and bases are common substances found in many every day items, from fruit juices and soft drinks to soap. In this unit we'll
exam what the properties are of acids and bases, and learn about the chemical nature of these important compounds. You'll learn what
pH is and how to calculate the pH of a solution.

Topic hierarchy

 14.1: Sour Patch Kids and International Spy
Movies
Sour Patch Kids are a soft candy with a coating of invert sugar
and sour sugar (a combination of citric acid, tartaric acid and
sugar). Its slogan, "Sour. Sweet. Gone.", refers to the sour-to-
sweet taste of the candy.
 14.2: Acids: Properties and Examples
Acids are very common in some of the foods that we eat.
Citrus fruits such as oranges and lemons contain citric acid
and ascorbic acid, which is better known as vitamin C.
Carbonated sodas contain phosphoric acid. Vinegar contains
acetic acid. Your own stomach utilizes hydrochloric acid to
digest food. Acids are a distinct class of compounds because
of the properties of their aqueous solutions.

 14.3: Bases: Properties and Examples
A base is thought of as a substance which can accept protons
or any chemical compound that yields hydroxide ions (OH-)
in solution. It is also commonly referred to as any substance
that can react with an acid to decrease or neutralize its acidic
properties, change the color of indicators (e.g. turn red litmus
paper blue), feel slippery to the touch when in solution, taste
bitter, react with acids to form salts, and promote certain
chemical reactions (e.g. base catalysis).
 14.4: Molecular Definitions of Acids and Bases
Although the properties of acids and bases had been
recognized for a long time, it was Svante Arrhenius in the
1880's who determined that: the properties of acids were due
to the presence of hydrogen ions, and the properties of bases
were due to the presence of hydroxide ions.

 14.5: Reactions of Acids and Bases
When an acid and a base are combined, water and a salt are
the products. Salts are ionic compounds containing a positive
ion other than H+ and a negative ion other than the hydroxide
ion, OH-. Double displacement reactions of this type are
called neutralization reactions. Salt solutions do not always
have a pH of 7, however. Through a process known as
hydrolysis, the ions produced when an acid and base combine
may react with the water to produce slightly acidic or basic
solutions.
 14.6: Acid–Base Titration: A Way to Quantify
the Amount of Acid or Base in a Solution
Acid-base titrations are lab procedures used to determine the
concentration of a solution. One of the standard laboratory
exercises in General Chemistry is an acid-base titration.
During an acid-base titration, an acid with a known
concentration (a standard solution) is slowly added to a base
with an unknown concentration (or vice versa). A few drops
of indicator solution are added to the base. The indicator will
signal, by color change, when the base has been neutralized
(when [H+] = [OH-]).

 14.7: Strong and Weak Acids and Bases

14.1 Updated 10/22/2018

Acids are classified as either strong or weak, based on their
ionization in water. A strong acid is an acid which is
completely ionized in an aqueous solution. A weak acid is an
acid that ionizes only slightly in an aqueous solution. Acetic
acid (found in vinegar) is a very common weak acid.
 14.9: The pH and pOH Scales: Ways to Express
Acidity and Basicity
pH and pOH are defined as the negative log of hydrogen ion
concentration and hydroxide concentration, respectively.
Knowledge of ether can be used to calculate either [H+] of
[OH-]. pOH is related to pH and can be easily calculated from
pH.
14.2
 14.8: Water: Acid and Base in One
Water is an interesting compound in many respects. Here, we
will consider its ability to behave as an acid or a base. In some
circumstances, a water molecule will accept a proton and thus
act as a Brønsted-Lowry base.
 14.10: Buffers: Solutions That Resist pH
Change
A buffer is a solution that resists dramatic changes in pH.
Buffers do so by being composed of certain pairs of solutes:
either a weak acid plus a salt derived from that weak acid or a
weak base plus a salt of that weak base.
Updated 10/22/2018