Acid-Base Equilibria

Chapter 14

Acid-Base Vocabulary

Arrhenius acid: proton donor

Arrhenius base: hydroxide donor

Bronsted-Lowry acid: proton donor

Bronsted-Lowry base: proton acceptor

Lewis acid: electron pair acceptor

Lewis base: electron pair donor

Polyprotic: having more than one available proton (acid group)

Amphiprotic: can act as either an acid or a base

Characteristics of Acids and Bases

Strong acid/base: completely dissociate in solution

Weak acid/base: partially dissociate in solution

Important Acid/Base Reactions

acid dissociation in water

base dissociation in water

strong acid-strong base neutralization

strong acid-weak base neutralization

weak acid-strong base neutralization

autoionization of water

Important Acid/Base Equations

How to find the Ka of an acid from pH (4:00)

Buffers are important for maintaining a constant pH in a solution. Titrations are a useful analytic tool that chemists use to determine the concentrations of unknown solutions. Click here to learn more about buffers and acid-base titrations.

Math Resources