What are some general properties of acids?

1. One of the chemicals used to make soaps is sodium hydroxide. Sodium hydroxide reacts with animal or vegetable fats to make glycerol and soap. Sodium hydroxide belongs to a class of compounds known as bases.

2. Identifying Acids What are some general properties of acids? An acid is a compound that produces hydronium ions (H3O+) when dissolved in water. Some general properties of acids include sour taste, reactivity with metals, and ability to produce color changes in indicators.

3. Identifying Acids When hydrogen chloride gas dissolves in water, it ionizes and forms hydronium ions and chloride ions. HCl +H2O H3O+ +Cl– The solution that results is called hydrochloric acid.

4. Identifying Acids

5. Identifying Acids Sour Taste Foods that taste sour often contain acids. • Lemons, grapefruits, limes, and oranges contain citric acid. • Vinegar contains acetic acid. • Dairy products that have spoiled contain butyric acid.

6. Identifying Acids Reactivity With Metals The reaction between an acid and a metal is an example of a single-replacement reaction. When zinc is added to a test tube containing hydrochloric acid, bubbles form in the tube. Zn +2HCl H2 +ZnCl2

7. Identifying Acids Color Changes in Indicators An indicator is any substance that changes color in the presence of an acid or base. Litmus paper is made by coating strips of paper with litmus, a kind of dye derived from lichens. Blue litmus paper turns red in the presence of an acid.

8. Identifying Acids Apples contain several acids, including malic acid, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), and citric acid. Blue litmus paper is an indicator for acids.

9. Identifying Bases What are some general properties of bases? A base is a compound that produces hydroxide ions (OH–) when dissolved in water. Some general properties of bases include bitter taste, slippery feel, and ability to produce color changes in indicators.

10. Identifying Bases Sodium hydroxide, NaOH, is an example of a base. When sodium hydroxide dissolves in water, it dissociates into sodium ions and hydroxide ions. NaOH Na+ +OH–

11. Identifying Bases The plaster in this boy’s cast contains a base.

12. Identifying Bases Bitter Taste Without sugar, chocolate tastes bitter. Cacao beans contain a base that gives unsweetened chocolate its bitter taste. Many liquid medicines contain bases. Fruit flavorings are often added to mask the taste of these basic solutions.

13. Identifying Bases Slippery Feel Bases feel slippery. Wet soap and many cleaning products that contain bases are slippery to the touch. When wet, some rocks feel slippery because the water dissolves compounds trapped in the rocks, producing a basic solution.

14. Identifying Bases Color Changes in Indicators • Bases turn red litmus paper blue. • Phenolphthalein is another acid-base indicator. • In a solution containing a base, phenolphthalein is red. • In a solution containing an acid, phenolphthalein is colorless.

15. Identifying Bases These hydrangea flowers contain natural indicators. The color of the flowers depends on whether the plant is growing in acidic or basic soil. When hydrangeas grow in acidic soil, the flowers are bluish-purple. When hydrangeas grow in basic soil, the flowers are pink.

16. Neutralization and Salts What are the products of neutralization? The reaction between an acid and a base is called neutralization. The neutralization reaction between an acid and a base produces a salt and water.

17. Neutralization and Salts The negative ions in an acid combine with the positive ions in a base to produce an ionic compound called a salt. The hydronium ions from the acid combine with the hydroxide ions from the base to produce water.

18. Neutralization and Salts When hydrochloric acid reacts with sodium hydroxide, a neutralization reaction occurs. If you let the water in the resulting solution evaporate, sodium chloride would crystallize out of solution.

19. Neutralization and Salts Table salt is the most common example of a salt compound. • Baking soda, NaHCO3, is produced during the neutralization reaction between sodium hydroxide and carbonic acid, H2CO3. • The ocean contains many dissolved salts, including chlorides and sulfates of potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sodium.

20. Neutralization and Salts The common salts listed in the table can all be made by reacting an acid with a base.

21. Proton Donors and Acceptors What are proton donors and proton acceptors? Acids can be defined as proton donors, and bases can be defined as proton acceptors.

22. Proton Donors and Acceptors When an acid and a base react in water, a proton from the hydronium ion from the acid combines with the hydroxide ion (OH–) from the base to form water (H2O). Acids lose, or “donate,” protons. Bases “accept” protons, forming water, a neutral molecule. This definition allows you to classify a wider range of substances as acids or bases.

23. Proton Donors and Acceptors Based on the definitions of acids and bases that you read earlier in this section, water is neither an acid nor a base. Using the proton-donor or proton-acceptor definition, water can act as either an acid or a base.

24. Proton Donors and Acceptors When hydrogen chloride dissolves, water acts as a base. It accepts a proton from hydrogen chloride and becomes a hydronium ion.

25. Proton Donors and Acceptors When hydrogen chloride dissolves, water acts as a base. It accepts a proton from hydrogen chloride and becomes a hydronium ion.

26. Proton Donors and Acceptors When hydrogen chloride dissolves, water acts as a base. It accepts a proton from hydrogen chloride and becomes a hydronium ion.

27. Proton Donors and Acceptors When ammonia dissolves, water acts as an acid. It donates a proton to the ammonia, which acts as a base.

28. Proton Donors and Acceptors When ammonia dissolves, water acts as an acid. It donates a proton to the ammonia, which acts as a base.

29. Proton Donors and Acceptors When ammonia dissolves, water acts as an acid. It donates a proton to the ammonia, which acts as a base.