INORGANIC

CHEMISTRY

Acids, Bases and

Salts
Dr. F. Akinwunmi
Dept. of Chemistry
Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta
 Acids
•Acid can be defined as a substance that liberates hydrogen ions (H +) in
water solution.
Characteristics of Acids
• Sour taste
• Ability to change the colour of many indicators. Acids turn blue litmus red,
and cause bromothymol blue to change from blue to yellow.
• Ability to react with
metals such as zinc and magnesium to produce hydrogen gas
hydroxide bases to produce water and an ionic compound (salt)
carbonates to produce carbon dioxide
• Aqueous solutions of acids conduct an electric current because they are
totally or partially ionised
 Bases
•A base is a substance that is capable of liberating hydroxide
ions (OH-) in water solution.
•Hydroxides of the alkali metals (Group IA) and alkaline earth
metals (Group IIA), such as LiOH, NaOH, KOH, Ca(OH) 2 and
Ba(OH)2 are the most common inorganic bases.
•When a base is dissolved in water, it will form a solution
known as alkaline solution or basic solution.
 Characteristics of Bases
• Bitter or caustic taste
• A slippery, soapy feeling
• Ability to change litmus from red to blue, and bromothymol blue
from yellow to blue.
• Ability to interact with acids to form salt
• Aqueous solutions of bases will conduct an electric current
because bases are dissociated or ionized to some extent.
 Theories of Acids and Bases

Arrhenius theory

Bronsted-Lowry theory

Lewis theory
 Arrhenius Theory
• Arrhenius proposed that in aqueous solutions, strong
electrolytes exist only in the form of ions, whereas weak
electrolytes exist partly as ions and partly as molecules.
• E.g HCl(aq) H+(aq) + Cl-(aq)
CH3COOH(aq) CH3COO- + H+
• He also postulated that hydrogen ions are produced by
the dissociation of acids in water and that the hydroxide
ions are produced when bases dissociate in water.
Thus, by Arrhenius theory:

An acid is a substance that contains hydrogen

and produces H+ in aqueous solution.
A base is a substance that contains the OH
(hydroxyl) group and produces hydroxide ions,
OH-, in aqueous solution.
Is NH3 a base?

• The Arrhenius theory of acid–base behaviour

satisfactorily explained reactions of protic acids
with metal hydroxides (hydroxy bases). This
theory could not explain why ammonia (NH 3)
exists as a base.
 Brønsted–Lowry Theory
• An acid is defined as a proton(H+) donor.
• A base is defined as a proton (H+) acceptor.
• These definitions imply that:
 any hydrogen-containing molecule or ion capable of releasing a proton,
H+, is an acid
 any molecule or ion that can accept a proton is a base.

• In the Arrhenius theory, only substances that contain the OH- group are
known as bases. The Brønsted-Lowry theory expands the definition of
bases to include substances that have one or more lone pairs of
electrons that can act as proton acceptors.
An acid–base reaction is a reaction that involves the
transfer of a proton from an acid to a base.
• The ionisation of hydrogen chloride (a strong acid) in
water is an acid–base reaction in which water acts as a
base or proton acceptor.
• Neutralization is defined as the reaction of H+ and OH-
ions to form H2O molecules.
+ 
H (aq) + OH ( aq )  H 2O(l )
1. HCl( aq )  H (aq ) + Cl( aq ) (Arrhenius description)
2. H 2O (l ) + H (aq )  H 3O 
 
Overall: H 2 O (l ) + HCl( aq )  H3O + Cl ( aq ) (Brønsted  Lowry description)

• More examples of neutralisation reaction:

HCl( aq ) + NaOH ( aq )  NaCl( aq ) + H 2 O (l )

HCl( aq ) + NH 3( aq )  NH 4 Cl( aq )
• When a Brønsted–Lowry acid donates a proton, it forms the
conjugate base of that acid.
• When a base accepts a proton, it forms the conjugate acid of that
base.
• A conjugate acid and base are produced as products. The formulas of
a conjugate acid–base pair differ by one proton (H+).
conjugate acid-base pair

- +
HCl(g) + H2O(l) Cl (aq) H3O (aq)

conjugate acid-base pair

acid base base acid

• The conjugate acid–base pairs are: HCl – Cl- and
H3O+ – H2O.

• The conjugate base of HCl is Cl- while the

conjugate acid of Cl- is HCl.

• The conjugate acid of H2O is H3O+ while the

conjugate base of H3O+ is H2O.
 + +
NH4 + H2O NH3 + H3O

acid base base acid

• Write the formula for the conjugate base of the following: H2O, HNO3, H2CO3,
HNO2, and HC2H3O2. E.g.
- H+ 
H 2 O  
 OH

• Write the formula for the conjugate acid of the following: H2O, C2H3O-, SO42-,
NH3, HSO4- and OH-. E.g. + H+ 
H 2O   
 H 3O
 Lewis Theory
• The Lewis theory deals with the way in which a substance
with an unshared pair of electrons reacts in an acid–base
type of reaction.
• According to Lewis theory, a base is a substance that has an
unshared pair of electrons (electron pair donor), and an acid
is any substance that will attach itself to or accept a pair of
electrons.

A Lewis acid is an electron pair acceptor

A Lewis base is an electron pair donor

• Lewis acids are either deficient in electrons (cations) or the

central atom has a vacant valence orbital.
 H H +
H+ + N H H N H
H H A coordinate
covalent bond
acid base is always
formed in a
Lewis acid-
F H base reaction.
F H
F B N H F B N H
F H F H
acid base
 Reactions of Acids
• Reaction with metals: Acids react with metals that lie above
hydrogen in the activity series of elements to form hydrogen
and an ionic compound (salt).
acid  metal  hydrogen  ionic compound

2HCl(aq) + Mg(s) H2(g) + MgCl2(aq)

Acids such as nitric acid are oxidising substances and react

with metals to produce water instead of hydrogen.
8 HNO3(aq) + 3 Zn(s) 3 Zn(NO3)2(aq) + 2 NO(g) + 4 H2O(l)
• Reaction with bases: The reaction of an acid and a base is
called a neutralization reaction. In aqueous solutions, the
products of neutralisation reaction are a salt and water:

acid  base  salt  water

2 HNO3( aq ) + Ca(OH) 2( s )  Ca(NO3 )2( aq ) + 2 H 2 O(l)

HBr( aq ) + KOH ( aq )  KBr( aq ) + H 2 O(l)

• Reaction with metal oxides: This reaction is related to
neutralisation reaction. With an aqueous acid solution,
the products are a salt and water:

acid  metal oxide  salt  water

2 HCl( aq ) + Na 2 O ( s )  2 NaCl( aq ) + H 2O (l)

• Reaction with carbonates: Many acids react with
carbonates to yield carbon dioxide, water, and an
ionic compound:
acid  carbonate  salt  water + carbon dioxide

2 HCl( aq ) + Na 2 CO3( aq )  2 NaCl( aq ) + H 2 O(l) + CO 2( g )

• Carbonic acid (H2CO3) is not the product because it is

unstable and spontaneously decomposes into water
and carbon dioxide.
 Reactions of Bases
Bases react with acids to produce a salt and water.
Hydroxides of certain metals, such as zinc, aluminium, and
chromium, are amphoteric – they are capable of reacting as either an
acid or a base.
Zn(OH) 2( s ) + 2 HCl( aq )  ZnCl 2( aq ) + 2 H 2O (l)
Zn(OH) 2( s ) + 2 NaOH ( aq )  Na 2 Zn(OH) 4( aq )
Some amphoteric metals react directly with the strong bases (NaOH and KOH)
to produce hydrogen:
base  metal  water  salt  hydrogen
2 Na(OH)( aq ) + Zn ( s ) + 2 H 2 O( l )  Na 2 Zn(OH)4( aq ) + H 2( g )
 Salts
• Salts are the compounds derived from acids and bases.
• Salts consist of positive metal or ammonium ions combined with
negative nonmetal ions (excluding OH- and O2-).
• The positive ion is from the base, and the nonmetal ion is from the
acid: acid
base
NaOH HCl

NaCl
salt
• Salts are usually crystalline and have high melting
and boiling points.
• Substances whose aqueous solutions are
conductors of electricity are regarded as
electrolytes.
electrolytes Substances whose solutions are
nonconductors are known as nonelectrolytes.
nonelectrolytes
• Acids, bases, and other ionic compounds (salts)
belong to the class of electrolytes.
• Solutions of certain oxides are also conductors
because the oxides form an acid or a base when
dissolved in water.
• Electrolytes can produce ions in solution, whereas
nonelectrolytes do not have this property.
Solutions that contain a sufficient number of ions
will conduct an electric current.
• Strong electrolytes are ionized or dissociated
completely, or very nearly completely, in dilute
aqueous solutions.
• Strong electrolytes include :
Strong acids e.g HCl, HClO4, H2SO4, HNO3, HBr,
HClO3, HI
Strong bases e.g LiOH, NaOH, KOH, Ca(OH)2, RbOH,
Sr(OH)2, CsOH, Ba(OH)2 and
Most soluble salts
 Electrolytes Weak electrolytes
Most soluble KOH HC2H3O2 HF
salts
H2SO4 HCl H2CO3 H2S

HClO4 Ca(OH)2 H2SO3 HClO

HNO3 Ba(OH)2 NH3 H3BO3

NaOH HBr HNO HCO
 Acidic and Basic Salts
Normal salts contain no ionisable H atoms or OH
groups.
The complete neutralisation of phosphoric acid,
H3PO4, with sodium hydroxide, NaOH, produces the
normal salt, Na3PO4.
H3PO4(aq) + 3 NaOH(aq) Na3PO4(aq) + 3 H2O(l)

1 mole 3 moles Sodium phosphate,

a normal salt
• If less than a stoichiometric amount of a base reacts
with a polyprotic acid, an acidic salt will be formed.
• The acidic salt can neutralise additional base.
H3PO4(aq) + NaOH(aq) NaH2PO4(aq) + H2O(l)

1 mole 1 mole Sodium dihydrogen

phosphate, an acidic salt

H3PO4(aq) + 2 NaOH(aq) Na2HPO4(aq) + 2 H2O(l)

1 mole 2 moles Sodium hydrogen

phosphate, an acidic salt
• Polyhydroxy bases (bases that contain more than one
OH per formula compound) react with stoichiometric
amounts of acids to form normal salts.

Al(OH)3(s) + 3 HCl(aq) AlCl3(aq) + 3 H2O(l)

1 mole 3 moles Aluminium chloride,

a normal salt
• The reaction of a polyhydroxy base with less than a
stoichiometric amount of an acid produces a basic
salt.
salt
• A basic salt contains unreacted OH groups.
Al(OH)3(s) + HCl(aq) Al(OH)2Cl(s) + H2O(l)

1 mole 1 mole Aluminium hydrgen

chloride, a basic salt
Al(OH)3(s) + 2 HCl(aq) Al(OH)Cl2(s) + 2 H2O(l)

1 mole 2 moles Aluminium hydrgen

dichloride, a basic salt
• Dissociation is the process by which the ions of a
salt separate as the salt dissolves.

• Ionisation is the formation of ions. It takes place

as a result of a chemical reaction of some
substances with water.
Arrhenius acids and bases are also Brønsted–
Lowry acids and bases; the reverse is not true.
Brønsted–Lowry acids and bases are also Lewis
acids and bases; the reverse is untrue.
When water or another protic solvent is present,
Arrhenius or the Brønsted–Lowry theory is
preferable.
Lewis theory can be used to explain the acidic or
basic property of some species in protic solvents
However, the most important application of the
Lewis theory is for acid–base reactions in
nonaqueous solvents and with transition metal
complexes.

 
HCl + NH3  NH + Cl 4
 Concentrations of Ions
• Concentrations of ions in aqueous solutions of strong
electrolytes can be calculated directly from the molarity of
the strong electrolyte.
EXAMPLES
1. Calculate the molar concentrations of Ba2+ and OH-
ions in 0.030 M barium hydroxide.
• Ba(OH)2 is a strong base and dissociates completely in
solution.
• From the equation for the dissociation of barium hydroxide,
one mole of Ba(OH)2 produces one mole of Ba2+ ions and
two moles of OH- ions.
• (strong base) Ba(OH)2(s) → Ba2+(aq) + 2OH- (aq)
• Therefore, [Ba2+] = 0.030 M and [OH-] = 0.060 M
2Calculate the concentrations of the constituent ions in
75.8 g of CaCl2.6H2O in 8.00 L of solution.
• First, determine the molarity of the solution:
Mass conc. = 75.8g/8.00L = 9.475 g/L.
Molar mass of CaCl2.6H2O = 1 x 40 + 2 x 35.5 + 6 x 18
= 40 + 71 + 108
= 219 g/mol
Molarity = 9.475g/L /219 g/mol = 0.0433 M
From the balanced equation:
CaCl2.6H2O → Ca2+(aq) + 2Cl-(aq)
• 1 mole of CaCl2.6H2O yields 1 mole of Ca2+
and 2 moles of Cl- ions in solution
• Thus, [Ca2+] = 0.0433M and [Cl-] = 2 x 0.0433 =
0.0866M
 THE AUTOIONIZATION OF
WATER
• H2O(aq) + H2O(aq) ↔H3O+(aq) + OH-(aq)
• Kw = [H3O+][OH-]/[H2O]2
• Because the H2O is pure, its activity is 1, its concentration
is not included in the equilibrium constant expression.
• This equilibrium constant is known as the ion product for
water and is usually represented as Kw.
• Thus Kw = [H3O+][OH-]
• The formation of an H3O+ ion by the ionization of
water is always accompanied by the formation of
an OH- ion. Thus, in pure water the concentration of
H3O+ is always equal to the concentration of OH-

• [H3O+] = [OH-] = 1.0 x10 -7mol/L

• Kw = [H3O+][ OH-] = (1.0 x10 -7)( 1.0 x10 -7)
• = 1.0 x 10-14 (at 25°C)
EXAMPLE 3
Calculate the concentrations of H3O+ and OH -ions in a 0.050 M HNO3
solution.
• (strong acid) HNO3 + H2O → H3O+ + NO3-
1 mole 1 mole 1mole
• [H3O+] = [NO3-] = 0.050 M
• The [OH-] is determined from the equation for the autoionization of water
and its Kw.
• 2H2O → H3O+ (aq) + OH-(aq)
• Kw = [H3O+][OH-]
• 1 x 10-14= (0.050)(x)
• x = 1.0 x 10-14 / 0.050M
• =2.0 x 10-13M
• Solution General Condition At 25°C
• acidic [H3O+] >[ OH-] [H3O+] > 1.0 x 10 -7 , [OH-] <1.0 x 10 -7
• neutral [H3O+] = [OH-] [H3O+] = 1.0 x 10 -7 , [OH-] = 1.0 x 10 -7
• basic [H3O+] < [OH-] [H3O+] < 1.0 x 10 -7 , [OH-] >1.0 x 10 -7
 THE pH AND pOH SCALES
• The pH and pOH scales provide a convenient way to express the acidity
and basicity of dilute aqueous solutions.
• The pH and pOH of a solution are defined as
• pH = - log [H3O+] or [H3O+] =10-pH
• pOH = - log [OH-] or [OH-] =10-pOH
• pH is the negative logarithm of the H3O+ concentration
• pOH is the negative logarithm of the OH- concentration and
• pK refers to the negative logarithm of an equilibrium constant.
• It is convenient to describe the autoionization of water in terms of
pKw.
• pKw = - log Kw
• The pH of a solution can be determined using a pH meter
or by the indicator method.

• Acid–base indicators are intensely colored complex

organic compounds that have different colors in
solutions of different pH.
• Many are weak acids or weak bases that are useful over
rather narrow ranges of pH values.
• Universal indicators are mixtures of several indicators;
they show several color changes over a wide range of pH
values.
pH meter
 Universal indicators

Solutions containing a universal indicator showing a wide range of

colors as pH varies. The pH values are given by the black
numbers.These solutions range from quite acidic (upper left) to quite
basic (lower right).
 Calculation of pH
Example 4
• Calculate the pH of a solution in which the H 3O+ concentration is
0.050 mol/L. Solution
• [H3O+] = 0.050M = 5.0 x 10-2M
• pH = - log[H3O+] = - log [5.0 x 10-2] = 1.30
Example 5
• The pH of a solution is 3.301. What is the concentration of H3O +
in this solution?
• - log[H3O+] = 3.301
• log[H3O+] = -3.301
• [H3O+] = log-1-3.301 = 10-3.301 = 5.00 x 10-4M
• For dilute solutions at 250C, [H3O+] [ OH-] = 1.0 x 10-14
• Taking logarithm of both sides:
• log [H3O+] + log [OH-] = log 1.0 x 10-14
• Multiply by -1:
• -log [H3O+] + -log [OH-] = -log 1.0 x 10-14
• pH + pOH = 14
• therefore, pH + pOH = pKw
• At other temperatures, the value [H3O+] [ OH-] = 1.0 x 10-
14
changes but pH + pOH = pKw
• Solution General Condition At 25°C
• acidic [H3O+] > [ OH-] [H3O+] > 1.0 x 10 -7 , [OH-] < 1.0 x 10 -7
• pH < pOH pH < 7.00 < pOH
• neutral [H3O+] = [OH-] [H3O+] = 1.0 x 10 -7 , [OH-] = 1.0 x 10 -7
• pH = pOH pH = 7.00 = pOH
• basic [H3O+] < [OH-] [H3O+] < 1.0 x 10 -7 , [OH-] > 1.0 x 10 -7
• pH > pOH pH > 7.00 > pOH
• Example 6
• Calculate [H3O+], pH, [OH-], and pOH for a 0.015 M HNO3 solution.
Solution
• HNO3 + H2O → H3O++ NO3-
• Because nitric acid is a strong acid (it ionizes completely),
• Thus [H3O+] = 0.015 M
• pH= -log [H3O+]= -log (0.015) = - (-1.82) = 1.82
• Also pH + pOH = 14.00. Therefore,
• pOH = 14.00 - pH = 14.00 - 1.82 = 12.18
• Because [H3O+] [ OH-] = 1.0 x 10-14, [OH-] is easily calculated.
• [OH-] = 1.0 x 10-14/ 0.015 = 6.7 x 10-13M
• Example 7
• Calculate [H3O+], pH, [OH-], and pOH for a 0.015 M Ca(OH)2
solution. Solution
• Ca(OH)2 + H2O → Ca2+(aq) + 2OH –(aq)
• Because calcium hydroxide is a strong base (it dissociates
completely)
• Thus [OH-] = 2 x 0.015 M = 0.030 M
• pOH = -log [OH-] = - log (0.030)=-(-1.52) = 1.52
• Also pH + pOH = 14.00.
• Therefore, pH = 14.00 - pOH = 14.00 - 1.52 = 12.48
• Because [H3O+] [ OH-] = 1.0 x 10-14, [H3O+] is easily calculated.
• [H3O+]= 1.0 x 10-14/[OH] = 1.0 x 10-14/ 0.030 M = 3.3 x 10-13M
• Exercises
•1 Calculate the concentrations of the constituent ions in solutions of
the following compounds in the indicated concentrations. (a) 0.25 M HBr;
(b) 0.055 M KOH (c) 0.0155 M CaCl2. (d) 0.050 M Sr(OH)2 (e) 0.050 M
HClO3; (f) 0.0040 M K2SO4.
•2 Calculate the concentrations of the constituent ions in the following
solutions. (a) 2.55 g of KOH in 1.50 L of solution; (b) 0.720 g of Ba(OH)2 in
250. mL of solution; (c) 1.64 g of Ca(NO3)2 in 100. mL of solution.
•3 Calculate the concentrations of the constituent ions in the following
solutions. (a) 1.77 g of Al2(SO4)3 in 400. mL of solution; (b) 18.4 g of
HBr in 675 mL of solution.
•4
Complete the following table by appropriate calculations.
[H3O+] pH [OH-] pOH
(a) ______ 3.84 ______ ______
(b) ______ 12.61 ______ ______

(c) ______ ______ ______ 2.90

(d) ______ ______ ______ 9.47
GOOD LUCK