Chemistry IB SL Acids and Bases

Acids and Bases

Substances that have opposite properties; acids produce H+ ions, while bases produce OH– ions.

Arrhenius Theory

A theory stating that acids produce H+ ions and bases produce OH– ions in aqueous solutions.

Neutralization

The process of combining an acid and a base to form water and a salt.

Bronsted-Lowry Theory

Defines acids as proton donors and bases as proton acceptors.

Conjugate Acids and Bases

Species formed when an acid donates a proton and a base accepts a proton in a reversible reaction.

Amphiprotic Species

Substances that can act as either Bronsted-Lowry acids or bases depending on the reaction context.

Properties of Acids

Acids react with metals, metal oxides, hydroxides, hydrogencarbonates, and carbonates to produce salts.

Standard Enthalpy Change of Neutralization

The energy change associated with the formation of 1 mol of water from a strong acid and a strong base.

pH Scale

A logarithmic scale that represents the concentration of hydrogen ions [H+] in a solution, distinguishing between acidic, neutral, and alkaline solutions.

Calculating pH

The concentration of an acid with one proton equals the concentration of hydrogen ions [H+]; for polyprotic acids, the relationship is multiplied by the number of protons.

Strong Acids

Acids that completely dissociate in water, such as HCl, H2SO4, and HNO3.

Weak Acids

Acids that only partially dissociate in water, such as CH3COOH and H2CO3.

Strong Bases

Bases that completely dissociate in water, such as KOH and NaOH.

Weak Bases

Bases that partially dissociate in water, such as NH3.

Conductivity

A technique to compare the strength of acids and bases based on the concentration of ions in solution; strong acids and bases have higher conductivities.

Energy Changes on Neutralization

Neutralization reactions are exothermic, with ΔH < 0, and the enthalpy change for strong acids is similar to that of weak acids.

Strong vs

"Strong" refers to complete dissociation into ions, while "weak" refers to partial dissociation; "concentrated" and "diluted" refer to the amount of solute in a solution.