Acids and Bases Lecture Notes

These flashcards cover key concepts of acidity, basicity, their definitions, and related terms for the understanding of acid-base chemistry.

Acid

A substance that produces H+ ions in aqueous solution.

Base

A substance that produces OH- ions in aqueous solution.

Arrhenius Definition

Defines acids as substances that increase the concentration of H+ ions in water and bases as substances that increase OH- ion concentration.

Brønsted-Lowry Acid

A proton donor that releases H+ in a reaction.

Brønsted-Lowry Base

A proton acceptor that takes up H+ in a reaction.

Amphoteric Substance

A substance that can act both as an acid and a base.

pH Scale

A logarithmic scale used to measure the acidity or basicity of a solution, ranging from 0 to 14.

Ka (Acid Ionization Constant)

A constant that quantifies the strength of an acid in aqueous solution.

pKa

The negative logarithm of the acid dissociation constant, used to express the strength of an acid.

Ionization of Water

The process where water dissociates into hydronium (H3O+) and hydroxide (OH-) ions, crucial for understanding pH.

Hydronium Ion

The H3O+ ion formed when H+ ions react with water.

Neutral Solution

A solution where [H3O+] equals [OH-], giving a pH of 7.

Strong Acid

An acid that completely ionizes in solution.

Weak Acid

An acid that partially ionizes in solution.

Strong Base

A base that completely dissociates in solution to yield OH- ions.

Weak Base

A base that partially ionizes in solution.

Conjugate Acid

The species formed when a base accepts a proton.

Conjugate Base

The species that remains after an acid donates a proton.

Auto-ionization of Water

The self-ionization of water where two water molecules react to form one hydronium ion and one hydroxide ion.

Basicity Constant (Kb)

Quantifies the strength of a base in aqueous solution.

Ion Product of Water

The product of the concentrations of H3O+ and OH- ions in water, represented as Kw.

Spectator Ion

An ion that does not participate in the chemical reaction.

pOH

A measure of hydroxide ion (OH-) concentration, calculated as pOH = -log[OH-].