Acid and Bases

Ionic Equilibrium
Read the following handout carefully
Ionic Equilibrium: There are substances that conduct electricity in their molten
states or in the form of their aqueous solutions. These are called electrolytes. On the
other hand, there are substances that do not conduct electricity in the molten states
or in the form of their aqueous solutions and these are called non-electrolytes.
→ Strong and Weak Electrolytes: Depending upon the extent of ionization, the
electrolytes may be divided into two classes: strong electrolytes and weak
electrolytes.
(i) Strong electrolytes: The substance which ionizes almost completely into ions in an
aqueous solution are called strong electrolytes.
For example, HCl, H2SO4 HNO3 NaOH, KOH, NaCl, KNO3, etc. are strong
electrolytes.
HCl + H2O → H3O+ + Cl–
HNO3 + H2O → H3O+ + NO3–
(ii) Weak electrolytes: The substances which ionize to a small extent in an aqueous
solution are called weak electrolytes. For example, CH3COOH, NH4OH, (NH4)2 CO3,
HCN, etc. are weak electrolytes.
CH3COOH + H2O ⇌ H3O+ + CH3COO–
NH3 + H2O ⇌ NH4+ + OH–
ACID-BASE CONCEPTS
1. Arrhenius Acids and Bases:
 Arrhenius defined acids as substances that produce hydrogen ions in water

and bases that produce hydroxyl ions. Thus, according to the Arrhenius
concept, hydrogen chloride, acetic acid, and sulphuric acid, are acids because
all these compounds give free H+ ions in an aqueous solution.
HCl (g) + H2O (excess) ⇌ H+ (aq) + Cl– (aq)
H2SO4 + H2O (excess) ⇌ 2H+ (aq) + SO42- (aq)
CH3COOH + H2O (excess) ⇌ H+ (aq) + CH3COO– (aq)
 The compounds such as NaOH and NH4OH are bases because these
compounds give free OH- ions in aqueous solutions.
NaOH + H2O (excess) ⇌ Na+ (aq) + OH– (aq)
NH4OH + H2O (excess) ⇌ NH4+ (aq) + OH– (aq)
2.The Bronsted-Lowry Acids and Bases:
 Any hydrogen-containing species (a molecule, a cation, or an anion) which is

capable of donating one or more protons to any other substance is called an
acid.
 Any species (molecule, cation, or anion) which is capable of accepting one or
more protons from acid is called a base.
Thus, according to the Bronsted-Lowry concept, an acid is a proton donor,
and a base is a proton acceptor.
EXAMPLE:Let us consider the dissolution of hydrogen chloride (HCl) in water

described by the reaction
HCl (aq) + H2O (l) ⇌ H3O+ (aq) + Cl– (aq)
In this reaction, HCl donates its one proton to become Cl– and H2O accepts one
proton to become H3O+. Thus, HCl is a Bronsted acid and H2O is a Bronsted base.
Every acid must form a base on donating its proton and every base must form an
acid on accepting a proton.
Conjugate Acid-Base Pairs: Consider the reaction between an acid and a base
In this reaction, HCl donates a proton (acts as an acid) and forms Cl– ion which has a
tendency to accept a proton (can act as a base). Similarly, NH3 accepts a proton and
acts as a base but it forms an NH4+ ion which has a tendency to behave as an acid.
In other words, an acid donates a proton .and becomes a base and a base accepts a
proton and becomes an acid.
The base formed from acid is referred to as the conjugate base of the acid.
Similarly’ the acid formed from a base is called the conjugate acid of the base.
Thus, in the above example, Cl– is the conjugate base of acid HCl arid NH4+ is the
conjugate acid of the base NH3.
The pairs of acids and bases are formed from each other by the gain or loss of a
proton are called conjugate acid-base pairs.
Thus, each acid-base reaction involves two pairs of conjugate acids and bases.
These are labelled as 1 and 2 as shown below:
It may be noted that the conjugate base of a strong acid is a weak base and the
conjugate base of a weak acid is a strong base. Strong acids like HCl, HNO3 have
weak bases like Cl– and NO3 and vice versa.
Q.What are conjugate base of each of the following:

(a)HS- (b)H3O+ (c)H2PO4- (d)HSO4- (e)HCO3-
Q.What are conjugate acid of each of the following:
(a)OH- (b)HCO3- (c)NH2- (d)S2- (e)NH3
Lewis’s concept of Acids and Bases: G.N. Lewis (1923) proposed a more general
and broader concept of acids and bases. According to this concept, an acid is a
substance (molecule or ion) that can accept a pair of electrons while a base is a
substance (molecule or ion) that can donate a pair of electrons. Some examples of
Lewis acids and bases are
Lewis bases
1. Neutral species having at least one lone pair of electrons, e.g. NH3, -NH2, ROH
2. Negatively charged ions e.g., CN–, Cl–, OH–.
Lewis acids
1. Molecules in which the central atom has incomplete octet e.g., AlCl3, BF3,
FeCl3, etc,
2. Simple cations act as Lewis acids, e.g., Ag+, H+, etc.
3. Molecules having empty d-orbitals in the central atom, e.g., SiF4, SnCl4, PF5.
4. Molecules in which atoms of dissimilar electronegativities are joined by multiple
bonds, e.g., CO2, SO2, etc.
The acid-base reaction may be written as:
Q. Classify the following species into Lewis acids and Lewis bases and show how
these act as such:
(a)F- (b)OH- (c)H+ (d)BCl3
SUMMARY:

Acid and Bases

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Ionic Equilibrium

Read the following handout carefully

1. Arrhenius Acids and Bases:

 Arrhenius defined acids as substances that produce hydrogen ions in water

 Any hydrogen-containing species (a molecule, a cation, or an anion) which is

EXAMPLE:Let us consider the dissolution of hydrogen chloride (HCl) in water

Q.What are conjugate base of each of the following:

The acid-base reaction may be written as:

(a)F- (b)OH- (c)H+ (d)BCl3

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