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Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Your notes

Chemistry
The Characteristic Properties of Acids & Bases
Contents
Properties of Acids & Bases
The Ions in Acids & Alkalis
Proton Transfer, Strong & Weak Acids
Classifying Oxides

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Properties of Acids & Bases

Your notes
Properties of acids
Acids have pH values of below 7, have a sour taste (when edible) and are corrosive
Acids are substances that can neutralise a base, forming a salt and water
When acids are added to water, they form positively charged hydrogen ions (H+)
The presence of H+ ions is what makes a solution acidic
Example: Hydrochloric acid
HCl (aq) → H+ (aq) + Cl- (aq)

Acids and metals

Only metals above hydrogen in the reactivity series will react with dilute acids.
When acids react with metals they form a salt and hydrogen gas:
acid + metal → salt + hydrogen
The name of the salt is related to the name of the acid used, as it depends on the anion within the acid

Examples of the names of salts from specific acids and metals

Acid Name of products Equation for reaction

Hydrochloric acid Magnesium chloride and hydrogen Mg + 2HCl → MgCl2 + H2

Sulfuric acid Magnesium sulfate and hydrogen Mg + H2SO4 → MgSO4 + H2

Nitric acid Magnesium nitrate and hydrogen Mg + 2HNO3 → Mg(NO3)2 + H2

Acids with bases

Metal oxides and metal hydroxides (alkalis) can act as bases
When they react with acid, a neutralisation reaction occurs
In all acid-base neutralisation reactions, salt and water are produced
acid + base → salt + water

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Examples of reactions between acids and bases

Acid Name of products Equation for reaction Your notes

Hydrochloric acid Magnesium chloride and water Mg(OH)2 + 2HCl → MgCl2 + 2H2O

Sulfuric acid Magnesium sulfate and water MgO + H2SO4 → MgSO4 + H2O

Nitric acid Magnesium nitrate and water Mg(OH)2 + 2HNO3 → Mg(NO3)2 + 2H2O

Acids with metal carbonates

Acids will react with metal carbonates to form the corresponding metal salt, carbon dioxide and water:
acid + metal carbonate → salt + carbon dioxide + water

Examples of reactions between acids and carbonates

Acid Name of products Equation for reaction

Hydrochloric Magnesium chloride, carbon dioxide and MgCO3 + 2HCl → MgCl2 + CO2 + H2O
acid water

Sulfuric acid Magnesium sulfate, carbon dioxide and MgCO3 + H2SO4 → MgSO4 + CO2 +
water H 2O

Nitric acid Magnesium nitrate, carbon dioxide and MgCO3 + 2HNO3 → Mg(NO3)2 + CO2 +
water H 2O

What are indicators?

Two colour indicators are used to distinguish between acids and alkalis
Many plants contain substances that can act as indicators and the most common one is litmus which is
extracted from lichens
Synthetic indicators are organic compounds that are sensitive to changes in acidity and appear
different colours in acids and alkalis
Thymolphthalein and methyl orange are synthetic indicators frequently used in acid-alkali titrations

Two Colour Indicators Table

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Indicator Colour in acid Colour in alkali

Your notes
Litmus red blue

Thymolphthalein colourless blue

Methyl orange red yellow

What are synthetic indicators?

Synthetic indicators are used to show the endpoint in titrations as they have a very sharp change of
colour when an acid has been neutralised by alkali and vice-versa
Litmus is not suitable for titrations as the colour change is not sharp and it goes through a purple
transition colour in neutral solutions making it difficult to determine an endpoint
Litmus is very useful as an indicator paper and comes in red and blue versions, for dipping into solutions
or testing gases

Properties of bases & alkalis

Bases have pH values of above 7
A base which is water-soluble is referred to as an alkali
In basic (alkaline) conditions red litmus paper turns blue, methyl orange indicator turns yellow and
thymolphthalein indicator turns blue
Bases are substances which can neutralise an acid, forming a salt and water
Bases are usually oxides or hydroxides of metals
When alkalis are added to water, they form negative hydroxide ions (OH–)
The presence of the OH- ions is what makes the aqueous solution an alkali
Example: Sodium hydroxide
NaOH (s) → Na+ (aq) + OH- (aq)

Bases and acids

When bases react with an acid, a neutralisation reaction occurs
Acids and bases react together in a neutralisation reaction and produce a salt and water:
Acid + base → salt + water
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Examples of reaction between bases and acids

Acid Name of products Equation for reaction Your notes

Hydrochloric acid Magnesium chloride and water Mg(OH)2 + 2HCl → MgCl2 + 2H2O

Sulfuric acid Magnesium sulfate and water MgO + H2SO4 → MgSO4 + H2O

Nitric acid Magnesium nitrate and water Mg(OH)2 + 2HNO3 → Mg(NO3)2 + H2O

Alkalis and ammonium salts

Ammonium salts undergo decomposition when warmed with an alkali
Even though ammonia is itself a weak base, it is very volatile and can easily be displaced from the salt
by another alkali
A salt, water and ammonia are produced
For example:
NH4Cl + NaOH → NaCl + H2O + NH3
This reaction is used as a chemical test to confirm the presence of the ammonium ion (NH4+)
Alkali is added to the substance with gentle warming followed by the test for ammonia gas using damp
red litmus paper
The damp litmus paper will turn from red to blue if ammonia is present

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The Ions in Acids & Alkalis

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Neutralisation reactions
What is a neutralisation reaction?
Acids are a source of hydrogen ions, H+
Bases (or alkalis) are a sources of hydroxide ions, OH–
When they react together in a neutralisation reaction, the H+ ions react with the OH– ions to
produce water
This is the net ionic equation of all acid-base neutralisations and is what leads to a neutral solution,
since water has a pH of 7:
H+ (aq) + OH– (aq)⟶ H2O (l)
Not all reactions of acids are neutralisations:
For example when a metal reacts with an acid, although a salt is produced there is no water formed
so it does not fit the definition of neutralisation

Examiner Tips and Tricks

Not all reactions of acids are neutralisations. For example, when a metal reacts with an acid, although
a salt is produced there is no water formed so it does not fit the definition of neutralisation.

Hydrogen ion concentration & pH

What is the pH scale?
The pH scale goes from 1 – 14
All acids have pH values of below 7, all alkalis have pH values of above 7
The lower the pH then the more acidic the solution is:
pH 0-2 = strong acid
Extremely acidic substances can have values of below 1
pH 3-6 = weak acid

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The higher the pH then the more alkaline the solution is:
pH 8-11 = weak alkali Your notes
pH 12-14 = strong alkali
A solution of pH 7 is described as being neutral
The pH scale

The pH scale showing acidity, neutrality and alkalinity

The pH scale and hydrogen ions

We have already seen that acids are substances that contain hydrogen ions in solution
The more hydrogen ions the stronger the acid, but the lower the pH
The higher the concentration of hydroxide ions in a solution the higher the pH
So pH is a measure of the concentration of H+ ions in solution, but they have an inverse relationship
The pH scale is logarithmic, meaning that each change of 1 on the scale represents a change in
concentration by a factor of 10

Concentration of hydrogen ions and pH

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Your notes

An acid with a pH of 3 has ten times the concentration of H+ ions than an acid of pH 4. An acid with a pH
of 2 has 10 x 10 = 100 times the concentration of H+ ions than an acid with a pH of 4

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Examiner Tips and Tricks

Acid strength is reflected in how many hydrogen ions are in solution. The more hydrogen ions the Your notes
lower the pH and vice-versa.

How is universal indicator used?

Universal indicator is a mixture of different indicators which is used to measure the pH
A drop is added to the solution and the colour is matched with a colour chart which indicates the pH
which matches specific colours

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Your notes

The pH scale with the Universal Indicator colours which can be used to determine the pH of a solution
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Proton Transfer, Strong & Weak Acids

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Proton transfer, strong & weak acids
Proton transfer
Extended tier only
Acids are proton donors as they ionise in solution producing protons, which are H+ ions
These H+ ions make the aqueous solution acidic
Bases are proton acceptors as they accept the protons which are donated by the acid

Proton transfer between hydrochloric acid and water

Diagram showing the role of acids and bases in the transfer of protons - here water acts as a base as it
accepts a proton

What is a strong acid?

Acids can be either strong or weak, depending on how many H+ ions they produce when dissolved in
water
Strong acids completely dissociate (or ionise) in water, producing solutions of a very low pH

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Strong acids include HCl and H2SO4

Example of a strong acid: hydrochloric acid Your notes
HCl (aq) → H+ (aq) + Cl- (aq)

What is a weak acid?

Weak acids partially dissociate (or ionise) in water and produce pH values which are closer to
the middle of the pH scale, whilst still being below 7
For weak acids, there is usually an equilibrium set-up between the molecules and their ions once they
have been added to water
Example of a weak acid: propanoic acid
CH3CH2COOH ⇌ H+ + CH3CH2COO-
The equilibrium lies to the left, indicating a high concentration of intact acid molecules, with a low
concentration of H+ ions in the solution
Another example of a weak acid is ethanoic acid which will react with alkalis such as sodium hydroxide
to form ethanoate salts
ethanoic acid + sodium hydroxide → sodium ethanoate + water
CH3COOH + NaOH → CH3COONa + H2O

Effect of concentration on strong and weak acids

A concentrated solution of an acid is one that contains a higher number of acid molecules per dm3 of
solution
It does not necessarily mean that the acid is strong though, as it may be made from a weak acid which
does not dissociate completely
For example a dilute solution of HCl will be more acidic than a concentrated solution of ethanoic acid,
since most of the HCl molecules dissociate but very few of the CH3COOH do

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Classifying Oxides
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Classifying oxides
What are oxides?
Oxides are compounds made from one or more atoms of oxygen combined with one other element
Examples of oxides include: MgO, ZnO, K2O, CO2, SO2, H2O
Oxides can be classified based on their acid-base characteristics

Acidic oxides
Acidic oxides are formed when a non-metal element combines with oxygen
They react with bases to form a salt and water
When dissolved in water they produce an acidic solution with a low pH
Common examples include CO2, SO2, NO2 and SiO2

Basic oxides
Basic oxides are formed when a metal element combines with oxygen
They react with acids to form a salt and water
When dissolved in water they produce a basic solution with a high pH
Common examples include CuO and CaO

Basic and acidic oxides

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Your notes

Metals form basic oxides while non-metals form acidic oxides

Amphoteric oxides
Extended tier only

Neutral oxides
Some oxides do not react with either acids or bases and thus are said to be neutral
Examples include N2O, NO and CO

Amphoteric oxides
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Amphoteric oxides are a curious group of oxides that can behave as both acidic and basic, depending
on whether the other reactant is an acid or a base
Your notes
In both cases salt and water are formed
Two of the most common amphoteric oxides are zinc oxide, ZnO and aluminium oxide, Al2O3
The hydroxides of both of these elements also behave amphoterically
Example of aluminium oxide behaving as a base:
Al2O3 + 6HCl → 2AlCl3 + 3H2O
Example of aluminium oxide behaving as an acid:
Al2O3 + 2NaOH → 2NaAlO2 + H2O

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