CHEMISTRY

SHS103

Lecture 8 Acid Base Equilibria

Wissam Ghach, Ph.D.

[email protected]

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 Acid

▪ Arrhenius Acid is a substance that can dissociate in

water to yield hydrogen ion (H+) in the from of
hydronium ion (H3O+).
Example: HCl → H+ + Cl-

▪ Bronsted acid is a substance from which a proton (H+

ion) can be removed (proton donor).

Example: HBr + H2O → H3O++ Br-

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 Acid

Properties of Acids

▪ Sour taste
▪ Corrosive
▪ Turns blue litmus paper red
▪ Examples: vinegar, citrus fruits, car batteries

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 Base

▪ Arrhenius Base is a substance that can dissociate

in water to yield hydroxide ion (OH-)

Example: NaOH → OH- + Na+

▪ Bronsted base is a substance that can remove a

proton from an acid (proton acceptor).

Example: NH3 + H2O ⇄ NH4+ + OH-

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 Base

Properties of Bases

▪ Bitter taste
▪ Corrosive
▪ Turns red litmus paper blue
▪ Examples: Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking soda),
soap, toothpaste, bleach, washing powder

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 Water = Amphoteric Substance

❖ Amphoteric substance as it can behave either as an acid or as a base.

H2O + H2O ⇄ H3O+ + OH¯

❖ Pure water at 25 C is composed of [H3O+] =[OH¯] = 1 × 10-7 M

❖ The comparison between [H3O+] and [OH¯] is used to identify qualitatively:

1. Neutral solution: [H3O+] = [OH¯]

2. Acidic solution: [H3O+] ˃ [OH¯]
3. Basic solution: [H3O+] < [OH¯]
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 pH Testing

▪ Blue litmus paper (red =acid)

▪ Red litmus paper (blue =basic)

▪ pH paper (multi-colored)

▪ pH meter (7 neutral, <7 acid, >7 base)

▪ Indicators (e.g., phenolphthalein)

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 pH Scale

A change of 1 pH unit
represents a tenfold (x10)
change in acidity of solution

Example:
Tomato pH =4, Lemon pH =2
→ lemons are 100 times more
acidic than tomatoes
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 Acid & Base Values

Calculating [H+], [OH-], pH, and pOH

pH =- log [H+] pOH = - log [OH-] pH + pOH = 14

[H+] =10-pH [OH-] =10-pOH [H+] / [OH-] = 10-14

Examples:
The pH of Coke is 3.12 → [H+] =10-pH =10-3.12 =7.59 x 10-4 M

The pOH of soap is 8.9 → [OH-] =10-pOH =10-8.9 =1.26 x 10-9 M 9

 Acid & Base Values

Calculating [H+], [OH-], pH, and pOH

Practice 1: what is the concentration of [H+] in 10-3 M of OH - solution?

Practice 2: what is the pH of a solution containing 10-3 M of OH- ion.

Solutions

[H+] x [OH-] = 10-14 → [H+] = 10-14 / [OH-] = 10-14 / 10-3 = 10-11 M

pOH = - log [OH-] = - log (10-3 ) = 3 → pH = 14- pOH = 14-3 = 11

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 Acid-Base Reactions

▪ A reaction between an acid and a base is called neutralization

▪ The result of a “perfect” neutralization reaction is a solution with pH =7

▪ Example: HCl +NaOH → NaCl +H2O

▪ The products of an acid base reaction are a salt and water

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Acid-Base Titration

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 Acid-Base Titrations

There are two

common methods
for determining
the equivalence
point of an acid–
base titration:

Use an acid–base indicator, which

marks the end point of a titration
by changing color. The goal is to
have the end point and the
equivalence point be as close as
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possible.
 Acid-Base Titrations

There are two common methods for

determining the equivalence point of
an acid–base titration:

2. Use a pH meter to monitor the pH

and then plot the titration curve. The
center of the vertical region of the pH
curve indicates the equivalence point
(Use Parallel Tangent Method)

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 Acid-Base Titrations

HCl(aq) +NaOH(aq) → NaCl (aq) +H2O (l)

Acid Base

▪ Neutralization reaction can be carried out using titration → allow to

determine the unknown concentration of an acid [H+] or base [OH-]

▪ At the equivalence point:Moles of Acid =Moles of Base

Ca x Va = Cb x Vb

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 Strength of acid and base

The strength term refers to the degree of dissociation where molecules break
apart to give ions in aqueous solution:

✓ Strong acid or base = strong electrolyte (100 % dissociation). For Example, the
dissociation of HCl (5 M) gives H3O+ (5 M) + Cl – (5 M)

✓ Weak acid or base = weak electrolyte (not completely dissociated). Example:

The dissociation of NH3 (5 M) gives NH4+ (Less than 5 M) + OH – (Less than 5
M).

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 Strength of acid and base

➢ Strong acid is a strong electrolyte:

HCl(aq) + H2O(l) → H3O+(aq) + Cl- (aq)
HNO3(aq) + H2O (l) → H3O+(aq) + NO3- (aq)
HClO4(aq) + H2O (l) → H3O+(aq) + ClO4- (aq)

➢ Strong base is a strong electrolyte:

➢ Weak Acid is a weak electrolyte:

H2O(l) + H2O(l) ⇄ H3O+(aq) + OH- (aq)
HNO2(aq) + H2O (l) ⇄ H3O+(aq) + NO2- (aq)
HF(aq) + H2O (l) ⇄ H3O+(aq) + F- (aq)
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 Strength of acid and base

➢ Weak Base is a weak electrolyte:

NH3(l) + H2O(l) ⇄ NH4+(aq) + OH- (aq)

NO2- (aq) + H2O (l) ⇄ HNO2(aq) + OH- (aq)
F- (aq) + H2O (l) ⇄ HF(aq) + OH- (aq)

➢ Conjugate acid-base pairs have the following properties:

• If an acid is strong, its conjugate base has no measurable strength (Cl- is an

extremely weak base).
• H3O+ is the strongest acid that can exist in aqueous solution.
• The OH- ion is the strongest base that can exist in aqueous solution.
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 Strength of acid and base

Calculate the pH of (a) a 1.0 × 10-3 M HCl solution and (b) a 0.04 M Na(OH)
solution.

Strategy: Keep in mind that HCl is a strong acid and NaOH is a strong base.
Thus, these species are completely ionized and no HCl or NaOH will be left in
solution.

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 Strength of acid and base

(a) The ionization of HCl is: HCl(aq) → H+(aq) + Cl-(aq)

The concentrations of all the species (HCl, H+ and Cl-) before and after ionization
can be represented as follows:

HCl(aq) → H+(aq) + Cl-(aq)

Initial (M): 1.0 × 10-3 M 0 0
Change (M): -1.0 × 10-3 +1.0 × 10-3 + 1.0 × 10-3

Final (M): 0 1.0 × 10-3 1.0 × 10-3

[H+] = 1.0 × 10-3 M  pH = -log [H+]

= -log(1.0 × 10-3 ) = 3
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 Strength of acid and base

(b) The ionization of NaOH is: NaOH → Na+ + OH-

The concentrations of all the species (NaOH, Na+ and OH-) before and after ionization can
be represented as follows:
NaOH → Na+ + OH-
Initial (M): 0.04 M 0 0
Change (M): -0.04 +0.04 +0.04

Final (M): 0 0.04 0.04

[OH-] = 0.04 M  pOH = -log [OH-] = -log (0.04) = 1.40

pH= 14 - pOH= 14 -1.4 = 12.60 21

Weak Acids and Acid Ionization
Constants

Consider a weak monoprotic acid (HA). Its ionization in water is represented by:
HA(aq) + H2O(l) ⇄ H3O+(aq) + A-(aq)
or
HA(aq) ⇄ H+(aq) + A-(aq)

The acid ionization constant (Ka) is the equilibrium constant for the ionization of
an acid.

As Ka increases  the strength of weak acid increases

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Weak Acids and Acid Ionization
Constants

Calculate the pH of a 0.036 M nitrous acid (HNO2) solution:

HNO2(aq) ⇄ H+(aq) + NO2- (aq)

Strategy: Recall that a weak acid only partially ionizes in water. We are given the
initial concentration of a weak acid and asked to calculate the pH of the solution
at equilibrium. It is helpful to make a sketch to keep track of the pertinent
species.

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Weak Acids and Acid Ionization
Constants

Step 1: The species that can affect the pH of the solution are HNO2, H+ and the
conjugate base NO2-. We ignore water’s contribution to [H+].

Step 2: Letting x be the equilibrium concentration of H+ and NO2- ions in mol/L, we

summarize:

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 Weak Acids and Acid Ionization
Constants

Step 3: we write

Applying the approximation 0.036 - x ≈ 0.036, we obtain:

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Weak Acids and Acid Ionization
Constants

To test the approximation:

Because this is greater than 5%, our approximation is not valid and we must
solve the quadratic equation, as follows: ax2 + bx + c = 0.

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 Weak Acids and Acid Ionization
Constants

The second solution is physically impossible, because the concentration of ions

produced as a result of ionization cannot be negative.

Therefore, the solution is given by the positive root, x = 3.8 × 10-3 M.

Step 4: At equilibrium
[H+] = 3.8 × 10-3 M
pH = -log (3.8 × 10-3) = 2.42

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Percent Ionization

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 Weak Base and Base Ionization
Constants

Consider a weak monoprotic acid (HA). Its ionization in water is represented by:
NH3(aq) + H2O(l) ⇄ NH4+(aq) + OH-(aq)

The base ionization constant (Kb) is the equilibrium constant for the ionization of
a base.

As Kb increases  the strength of weak base increases

Solve weak base problem like weak acid except use OH- instead of H+

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Weak Base and Base Ionization
Constants

What is the pH of a 0.40 M ammonia solution?

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Weak Base and Base Ionization
Constants

Step 3: Table 15.4 gives us Kb:

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 Weak Base and Base Ionization
Constants

Applying the approximation 0.40 - x ≈ 0.40,

we obtain:

To test the approximation, we write:

Therefore, the approximation is valid.

At equilibrium, [OH-]= 2.7 × 10-3 M. Thus,

pOH = -log (2.7 × 10-3 ) = 2.57

pH = 14 - pOH = 14 – 2.57 = 11.43

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The End

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