Acids, Bases, Salts, Indicators, and Chemical Equations

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering acids, bases, salts, indicators, and the law of conservation of mass in chemical equations.

Acid

Any hydrogen-containing substance that is capable of donating a proton or a hydrogen ion to another substance.

Arrhenius Acid

Any substance that, when dissolved in water, increases the concentration of hydronium ion ($H_3O^+$).

Strong Acid

An acid that breaks down completely to give off many $H^+$ ions in its aqueous state.

Weak Acid

An acid that partially breaks down, giving a lesser number of $H^+$ in its aqueous solution.

Base

A substance that produces $OH^-$ ions in aqueous solutions, acts as a proton acceptor, and serves as an electron pair donor.

Strong Base

A basic chemical compound that can release hydroxyl ions ($OH^-$) in the maximum amount.

Weak Base

A basic chemical compound that can release hydroxyl ions ($OH^-$) in a lesser amount.

Sodium Hydroxide

Also known as caustic soda; a base used in the manufacture of soap, petroleum-refining, making medicines, and paper.

Calcium Hydroxide

Also known as slaked lime; a base used to neutralize acids in water supplies.

Ammonium Hydroxide

A weak base used to remove ink stains from clothes.

Potassium Hydroxide

A strong base used in batteries.

Salt

A compound produced when the $H^+$ ion of an acid is replaced by a metal ion.

Normal Salt

A salt in which the hydrogen ions of the acid are completely replaced by metallic ions, making it electrically neutral.

Acid Salt

A salt that still contains hydrogen atom(s) from an acid which can further be replaced by metallic ions.

Basic Salt

A salt containing hydroxides together with metallic ions and negative ions from an acid.

Indicator

A substance that changes colour when added to a solution containing an acidic or a basic substance.

Litmus

The most commonly used natural indicator extracted from lichens, having a mauve (purple) colour in distilled water, turning red in acidic solutions, and blue in basic solutions.

Turmeric (Luyang Dilaw) Indicator

A natural indicator that turns yellow in an acid, pink/red in a base, and yellow in a neutral solution.

Red Gumamela Indicator

A natural indicator that turns red/pink in an acid, greenish/bluish in a base, and red in a neutral solution.

Law of Conservation of Mass

States that mass is neither created nor destroyed in any chemical reaction, requiring the mass of reactants to equal the mass of products.

Reactants

The substances going into a chemical reaction.

Products

The substances produced by a chemical reaction.

Coefficient

A number placed in front of a chemical formula that indicates the number of molecules or moles of that substance involved in a reaction.

Subscripts

Small numbers written within a chemical formula that indicate the number of atoms of a specific element in a single molecule.

Balancing a Chemical Equation

Establishing the mathematical relationship between the quantity of reactants and products.