Acids, Bases and Salts
Acids
A substance which turns blue litmus paper red
It has a sour taste and is corrosive
Reacts with a base to form salt
Disassociates in water to form H+ ions
Conducts electricity
Numbers less than 7 in the pH scale are acids
The presence of H+ ions is what makes a solution acidic
Examples of common acids
Hydrochloric acid (HCl)
Sulfuric acid (H2SO4)
Nitric acid (HNO3)
Ethanoic acid (CH3COOH)
Reactions of Acids
Acid + Base Salt + Water
Acid + Metal Salt + Hydrogen
Acid + Carbonate Salt + Carbon Dioxide + Water
Alkali
A substance which turns red litmus paper blue
Have a bitter taste and are slippery
Numbers more than 7 in the pH scale are alkalis
Disassociates in water to form OH- ions
Bases
A base which is water-soluble is referred to as an alkali
Bases are usually oxides and hydroxides of metals
Bases are substances which can neutralise an acid, forming a salt and water
Examples of common alkali
Sodium hydroxide/lye (NaOH)
Potassium hydroxide (KOH)
Calcium hydroxide {Ca(OH)}
Ammonia (NH3)
Chemical indicators
Phenolphthalein
Colourless(acid)
Pink(alkali)
Litmus
Red(acid)
Blue(alkali)
Methyl orange
red(acid)
yellow(alkali)
Ionic equations
State symbols (important)
Cancel spectator ions after balancing
In neutralization reaction water is only product
Oxides
Elements combining with O2
Types of oxides
Acidic(non-metal oxides)
Basic(metal oxides)
Neutral
Amphoteric(both acid and base)
Acidic oxides
C + 02 CO2 +H2O H2CO3
S + O2 SO2 +H20 H2SO3
4P + 5O2 2P2O5 +H20 H3PO4
N + O2 NO2 +H2O HNO3
Metal/Basic oxides
4Na + 02 2Na2O
2Mg + O2 2Mgo
4Fe + 3O2 2Fe2O3
2Cu + O2 2CuO
CuO + HCl CuCl2 + H2O
Amphoteric oxides
Behave like both acid and base
ZnO/Al2O3/PaO
Neutral oxides
Neither acid or base
CO, N2O, H2O
Soluble salts
Insoluble salts
All sodium
All potassium
All ammonium
All nitrates
All chlorides except
Lead(ll), Silver
All sulfates except
Barium, Calcium, Lead
Potassium,Sodium,Ammonium except
All Carbonates
Potassium, Sodium, Ammonium except
All hydroxides and oxides
Precipitation
Stir the 2 reactants with H20
Heat to form precipitate
Wash precipitate to remove impurities
Dab dry
Reaction with acids
Fill the beaker with H2SO4 then add excess Zn powder until it dissolves. No more H2
bubbles
Filter to remove unreacted Zinc powder
Take filtrate and heat to concentrate salt
Heat till crystallization point, test vy dipping a cold glass rod in filtrate. Stop heating when
crystals form on the rod(solution is saturated)
Cool solution for crystallization and filter to collect crystals
Wash and dry with filter paper and distilled water
Solubility for reaction(acid+metal)
K, Na, Ca very reactive, too dangerous to react with acids
Mg, Al, Zn, Fe, Pb Suitable and moderately reactive
Cu, Ag too unreactive
Titration
Apparatus: pipette, burette, conical flask
Pipette the base into the conical flask
Add indicator(phenolphthalein) to see exactly how much acid and base is present
Run acid from burette into conical flask drop by drop
Till end/neutralisation point(observe indicator)
Repeat without indicator with precise amounts for purity of product
Heat, saturate, crystallize, cool, wash, dry