Acids and Bases

Acids And Bases

This is the second topic we are learning this term!! In this topic, we learn about acids and bases, as well as writing chemical equations. So firstly:

What is an Acid?

An acid is a substance which produces hydrogen ions as the only positive ions when it is dissolved in water. Acids can be weak or strong, and are not always corrosive. For example, Strong acids are man made, used in the industry for making useful products wheras weak acids are found commonly in plants and animals, used in food and such. Thus is can be seen that they are not corrosive.

As seen above, there are many examples of weak and strong acids.

Weak acids include: Acetic acid, Citric cid and Tartaric acid.   

Strong acids include Hydrochloric acid, Nitric acid and Sulfuric acid.

These are commonly found around us. 

Strength of Acids

The strength of an Acid depends on its ability to ionise in water to form hydrogen ions.b A weak acid is one that ionises partially in water to produce few hydrgon ions, while a strong acid is one that ionises completely in water to produce hydrogen ions. In this case, there are no molecules left.

The Properties of Acids

Acids have the following properties:

• Sour taste
• Change the color of Indicators(e.g. Able to turn blue litmus paper red)
• Contains hydrogen ions, able to conduct electricity
• Able to react with metals,co carbonates and bases

Below are the results of combining acids with:

Metals

Acids react with metals, to produce salt and hydrogen gas.

E.g. 2HCI(aq) + Zn (s) => ZnCL2(aq) + H2(g)

Carbonates

Acids react with carbonate to produce salts, carbon dioxide and water.

E.g. Na2CO3 + H2SO4 => NaSO4 + CO2 + H2O

Bases

They can change the color of indicatorster.

E.g. MgO + H2SO4 => MgSO4 +H2O

The second art of this topic is about Bases. Bases are oxides or hydroxides of metal that react with acids to form salt and water. They have unique properties, as seen below:

-They have bitter taste

-they have soapy feel

-Bases react with acids to form