Acid bases and

Salts
FATIMA AZIZA
Molecular Biologist/Clinical Biochemist
Medical Lab Technologist
Learning outcome:

 Acids, Bases, Salts and Alkalis

 Strength of acidity and alkalinity
 pH
 Measurement of H+ ion concentration
 Indicators
 Titration
 Henderson Hassel Bach equation
 Acids and Bases:
Arrhenius Concept:
 The Arrhenius theory of acids and bases states that “an acid is a
substance that generates H+ ions in an aqueous solution”

 “A base is a substance that produces an OH– ion in an aqueous

solution”.

 An important limitation of the Arrhenius definitions of acids and

bases is that it fails to explain how substances lacking hydroxide ions
form basic solutions when dissolved in water, such as NH3– and SO2–.
Bronsted-Lowry Concept:

 The Bronsted-Lowry theory defines “an acid as a proton donor”

 and “a base as a proton acceptor”

 An important limitation of this theory is that it fails to explain how
compounds lacking hydrogen exhibit acidic properties, such as BF3 and
AlCl3.
Lewis Concept:

 The Lewis definition of acids and bases describes “acids as electron-

pair acceptors.

 and “bases as electron-pair donors”.

Properties of Acids:

 Their pH values are always less than 7.

 When reacted with metals, these substances
produce hydrogen gas.
 They are good conductors of electricity.
 Acids are sour-tasting substances.
 They have the ability to turn blue litmus
paper red.
 Examples: Sulfuric acid [H2SO4], Hydrochloric
acid [HCl], Acetic acid [CH3COOH].
 Properties of Bases:

 These substances release hydroxide ions (OH– ions) when

dissolved in water.
 In their aqueous solutions, bases act as good conductors of
electricity.
 The pH values corresponding to bases are always greater
than 7.
 Bases are bitter-tasting substances
 They have the ability to turn red litmus paper blue.
 Examples: Sodium hydroxide [NaOH], milk of magnesia
[Mg(OH)2], calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)2].
 Difference:
Acids Bases

Acid gives off hydrogen ions Bases give off hydroxyl ion when
when dissolved in water. dissolved in water.

It turns blue color litmus paper It turns red color litmus paper into
into red. blue.

It has a sour taste. It has bitter taste.

Its pH value ranges from 1 to 7. Its pH value ranges from 7 to 14.

Example: HCl, H2SO4 etc. Example: NaOH, KOH etc.

Amphoteric:

 When a substance reacts chemically, both as a base or acid it

termed as an amphoteric solution.
 Example: Water molecule H2O
 Alkali:

 Any soluble hydroxides of alkali

metals.
 An alkali is a base that dissolves
in water.
 An Alkali is a substance that
produces OH- ions in water.
 Alkalis only behave as an alkali
when dissolved in water
 Salts:
 A salt consists of the positive ion (cation) of a base and the negative
ion (anion) of an acid.
 The reaction between an acid and a base is called a neutralization
reaction.
 When in solution, most salts are completely dissociated into
negatively and positively charged ions and are good electrolytes.
Properties of Salts:

 When in solution, most salts are completely dissociated into negatively

and positively charged ions and are good electrolytes (conductors
of electricity).
 They have a pH of 7, it means they are neutral and have equal number of
positive and negative ions.
 Ionic bond is the electrostatic force of attraction that holds the oppositely
charged ions together.
Types of Salts:

 Normal salt : A salt that does not contain any replaceable

hydrogen atoms or hydroxyl groups is called normal salt.
 Na2SO4 obtained in the reaction between H2SO4 and NaOH is a normal
salt because it is formed by the complete replacement of both the H
atoms of H2SO4,
 Acid salt : When a polybasic acid is not completely neutralized by a
base, the salt produced will contain replaceable hydrogen atoms.
Hence, it may further take part in the reaction with the base as an
acid. Such a salt is called an acid salt.
Types of Salts:

 Basic Salts: When a polyacidic base reacts with lesser amount of

acid than is necessary for complete neutralization, the salt produced
contain hydroxyl group(s) (OH) also. Such a salt is called a basic salt.
Strength(basicity) of acid:
Strong and Weak acids:
 The strength of an acid or alkali depends on
the degree of dissociation of the acid or alkali
in water.
 The degree of dissociation measures the
percentage of acid molecules that ionize when
dissolved in water.
 A strong acid is an acid
which ionizes or dissociates completely in
water to produce a high concentration of
hydrogen ions.
 A weak acid is an acid which ionizes
partially in water to produce a low
concentration of hydrogen ions.
Strength (acidity) of base:

 Strong and weak bases/alkalis:

 A strong alkali is an alkali which is fully
ionized in water to produce a high
concentration of hydroxide ions.
 Sodium hydroxide is a strong alkali. It ionizes
fully when dissolved in water.
 A weak alkali is an alkali which ionizes
partially in water to produce a low
concentration of hydroxide ions.
 Ammonia is an example of a weak alkali.
Acidity and Basicity:
Acid No. of H ion Basicity
HCl 1 Monobasic
HNO3 1 Monobasic
H2SO4 2 Dibasic
H3PO4 3 Tribasic

Base No. of OH ions Acidity

NaOH 1 Monoacidic

Ca(OH)2 2 Diacidic

Al(OH)3 3 Triacidic
 pH:

 pH is a measure of hydrogen ion concentration, a measure of

the acidity or alkalinity of a solution.
pH = -log [H+]
 An acidic solution has a high concentration of hydrogen ions (H+),
greater than that of pure water.
 A basic solution has a low concentration of H+ , less than that of
pure water.
 The molar concentrations of H +
and OH - are approximately
10 - 7 each in pure water.
Measurement of H+ ion
concentration:
Calculate the hydrogen ion concentration for a solution with pH 2.30.
 Solution:
Since,
pH = - log10 [H⁺]
[H⁺] = 10−pH mol/L
So,
[H⁺] = 10−2.30 mol/L
[H⁺] = 5.0 × 10⁻³ mol/L

Activity:
 Calculate the hydrogen ion concentration for a solution with pH 9.23
 Indicators:
 Chemical indicator, any substance that gives a visible sign by a
color change, of the presence or absence of a specific concentration
of a chemical species, such as an acid or an alkali in a solution.
 An example is the substance called methyl yellow, which imparts a
yellow colour to an alkaline solution. If acid is slowly added, the
solution remains yellow until all the alkali has been neutralized,
whereupon the colour suddenly changes to red.
Acid base Indicators:

Indicator Color in acid Color in base

Methyl Orange Orange Yellow

Thymol blue Yellow Blue

Phenolphthalein Colorless Pink

Bromophenol blue Yellow Blue

Methyl Yellow Red Yellow

 Titration:
 A titration is a technique where a solution of
known concentration is used to determine the
concentration of an unknown solution.
 Acid-Base titrations are usually used to find the
amount of a known acidic or basic substance
through acid base reactions.
 The analyte (titrand) is the solution with an
unknown molarity. The reagent (titrant) is the
solution with a known molarity that will react
with the analyte.
Process of Titration:
 The analyte solution is usually placed in a flask for titration.
 A small amount of indicator (3-4 drops) is then added into the flask together
with the analyte.
 The reagent is usually placed in a burette and slowly added to the analyte-
indicator mixture.
 The amount of reagent used is recorded when the indicator causes a change
in the color of the solution.
Calculations for Titration:
 Suppose that a titration is performed, and 20 ml of 0.5M NaOH, is
required to reach the end point when titrated against 15 ml of
unknown concentration of HCl.
 At the equivalence point in a neutralization, the moles of acid are
equal to the moles of base.

Moles acid = Moles base

Conjugate acid and Conjugate base:

 A conjugate acid contains one more H atom and one more + charge
than the base that formed it.
 A conjugate base contains one less H atom and one more - charge
than the acid that formed it.
 Buffer:
 A buffer is a solution that can resist pH change upon the addition of an
acidic or basic components. It is able to neutralize small amounts of added
acid or base, thus maintaining the pH of the solution relatively stable.
 This is important for reactions which require specific and stable pH ranges.
Composition:
A buffer must consist of a weak conjugate acid-base pair, either they are:
1. A weak acid and its conjugate base (CH3COOH and CH3COO-)
or
2. A weak base and its conjugate acid (NH3 and NH4+)
Working of a buffer:
When hydrogen ions are added to a buffer, they will be neutralized by the base
in the buffer. Hydroxide ions will be neutralized by the acid. These
neutralization reactions will not have much effect on the overall pH of the
buffer solution.
Acid dissociation Constant (Ka):

 It is a measure of extent to which an acid is ionized at equilibrium state.

 It is directly proportional to the strength of an acid.

pKa:
 It is defined as the negative log of acid dissociation constant Ka.
Henderson Hassel Bach
Equation:
The Henderson-Hasselbalch equation is useful for estimating the pH
of a buffer solution.

 The equation can be used to determine the amount of acid and

conjugate base needed to make a buffer solution of a certain pH
 When the concentrations of the acid and the conjugate base are the
same, that is when,
=1
Derivation:
Can you solve it?

What is the pH of a buffer solution

consisting of 0.3M NH3 and 0.5M
NH4+ (Ka for NH4+ is 5.6 x 10-10)?

 Hint: pKa = -log [Ka]