ACIDS, BASES AND SALTS

Acids – these are substances which dissociate in water to form hydrogen oins, H+ as the only
positive ions.
- Therefore acids are considered as proton donors since the hydrogen ion is equivalent to a
proton e.g

HCl(aq) H+(aq) + Cl-(aq)

CH3COOH(aq) H+(aq) + CH3COO-(aq)

- Acids are classified into organic and inorganic acids.
- Organic acids are obtained from fruits and certain foodstuffs e.g
 Citric and acetic acids from lemon
 Tartaric acid from grapes
 Lactic acid from milk
- Inorganic or mineral acids are industrially manufactured e.g
 Sulphuric acid
 Nitric acid
 Hydrochloric acid
- When acids are mixed with water, the molecules of the acid dissociate and the polar water
molecule combines with the hydrogen ion, from the acid to form a hydroxonium ion(H3O+)
i.e
H+(aq) + H2O H3O+(aq)
- Therefore in water the hydrogen ions from the acid exist as hydroxonium ions e.g
HCl(aq) + H2O(l) H3O+(aq) + Cl-(aq)
- Acids are also classified as either strong or weak acids.
- A strong acids are those that dissociates completely in water e.g all mineral acids. These
acids have more hydrogen ions per unit volume of solution than weak acids.
- A weak acid is one which dissociates slightly in water e.g organic acids. Thes acids have few
hydrogen ions per unit volume of solution than weak acids.
- A dilute acid is not the same as a weak acid since in dilute acid there are few hydrogen ions
because there are fewer acid molecules in a given volume of solution.
- In a weak acid there are few hydrogen ions because few acid molecules dissociate.
- Basicity of an acid is the number of hydrogen ions one mole of an acid produces when it
dissociates.
- An acid may be monobasic, dibasic or tribasic e.g
HCl(aq) H+(aq) + Cl-(aq) (monobasic)

H2SO4(aq) 2H+(aq) + SO4-(aq) (dibasic)

H3PO4(aq) 3H+(aq) + PO43-(aq) (tribasic)

Properties of Acids

Physical of acids
 Have a sour and sharp taste
 Turn blue litmus red
 Are corrosive

Chemical properties
 Reaction with metals
- Metals which are more electropositive than hydrogen react with both dilute acids liberating
hydrogen gas and salt e.g
Mg(s) + 2HCl(aq) MgCl2(aq) + H2(g)
- Metals which are less electropositive react with hot concentrated acids to give salt, water and
gases e.g
Pb(s) + 2H2SO4(conc) PbSO4(aq) + SO2(g) + 2H2O(l)
- Copper does not react with either dilute HCl or dilute H2SO4. It reacts with dilute nitric acid
to form nitrogen(II) oxide i.e
3Cu(s) + 8HNO3(aq) 3Cu(NO3)2(aq) + 4H2O(l) + 2NO(g)
- It reacts with hot conc.nitric and sulphuric acids to form oxides of nitrogen and sulphur
respectively e.g
Cu(s) + 4HNO3(conc) Cu(NO3)2(aq) + 2H2O(l) + 2NO2(g)

Cu(s) + 2H2SO4(conc) CuSO4(aq) + SO2(g) + 2H2O(l)

Reactions with bases and alkalis

- An acid reacts with a base or an alkali to form a salt and water only e.g

CuO(s) + 2H2SO4(aq) CuSO4(aq) + 2H2O(l)

NaOH(aq) + HCl(aq) NaCl(aq) + H2O(l)

Action with carbonates and hydrogen carbonates

- Acids liberate carbon dioxide when they react with carbonates or hydrogen-carbonates e.g
Na2CO3(s) + 2HCl(aq) 2NaCl(aq) + H2O(l) + CO2(g)

Ca(HCO3)2(s) + 2HCl(aq) CaCl2(aq) + 2H2O(l) + 2CO2(g)

BASES
- There are substances which combine with hydrogen ions from acids to form water.
- They are proton acceptors.
- Alkalis are soluble bases e.g
CaO(s) + 2HCl(aq) CaCl2(aq) + H2O(l)

NaOH(aq) + HCl(aq) NaCl(aq) + H2O(l)

- In water, alkalis dissociate to form hydroxyl ions, OH- which act as bases e.g

KOH(aq) K+(aq) + OH-(aq)

Base

Properties of Bases

Physical properties
 Bases are bitter and soapy
 They turn red litmus blue
 They give itchy feeling

Chemical properties
1. Bases react with acids to form salts and water only e.g
CuO(s) + 2HCl(aq) CuCl2(aq) + H2O(l)
 2NH4OH(aq) + H2SO4(aq) ( NH4)2SO4(aq) + 2H2O(l)
2. Basic solutions react with some metals to produce hydrogen and solution of a salt e.g
Zn(s) + 2NaOH(aq) Na2ZnO2(aq) + H2(g)
Sodium zincate
3. Alkalis precipitate many insoluble hydroxides from solution of their acids e.g
CuSO4(aq) + 2NH4OH(aq) Cu(OH)2(s) + (NH4)SO4(aq)
blue

- Lead, zinc and aluminium hydroxides are white precipitates.

- Iron(II) hydroxide is green while iron(III) hydroxide is reddish-brown.

4. Alkalis react with ammonium salts to form ammonia e.g

NH4Cl(aq) + NaOH(aq) NaCl(aq) + H2O(l) + NH3(g)

PH VALUE
- In chemistry, PH (potential of hydrogen or power of hydrogen) is a scale used to specify the
acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Acidic solution (solution with higher concentration
of H+ ions )are measured to have lower PH values than basic or alkaline solutions i.e
solutions with a PH values less than 7 are acidic and solutions with a PH greater than 7 are
basic. Also solutions with a PH value of 7 are neutral (e.g pure water).
- The PH value can be less than zero for very strong acids or greater than 14 for very strong
bases.
Neutralisation
- A neutralization reaction usually occurs when a basic oxide or hydroxide reacts with an acid.
- Neutralization is the formation of water molecules from the reaction between hydroxyl ions
(OH-) and hydroxonium ions (H3O+). i.e
H3O+(aq) + OH-(aq) 2H2O(l)
- In a neutralization reaction a salt is also formed as one of the products.
- For complete neutralization, all acid and base must react completely.
- The PH of neutralized solution is 7.
SALTS
- These are compounds formed when a cation from a base combines with an anion from an
acid. Thus some hydrogen ions in the acid are replaced.
- The cation can either be metallic or the ammonium ion e.g
Zn2+(aq) + 2Cl-(aq) ZnCl2(aq)
Cation anion salt

- Salts are electrically neutral because the respective charges on the cations and anions balance

Types of Salts

(a) Normal salts – these are formed by replacement of all the hydrogen ions in an acid by
metallic ions e.g NaCl, CuSO4, K2SO4, e.t.c
(b) Acid salts – these are salts formed by replacing few hydrogen ions in some acids like;
H2SO4, H2CO3, H3PO4 e.t.c
- Hence some hydrogen ions are replaced by metallic ion.
- The resulting salt is an acid salt e.g NaHSO4 (sodium hydrogen sulphate).
- The name acid refers to the presence of the hydrogen atom in the salt and does not
necessarily mean the salt has acidic properties.
(c) Basic Salts – these salts are derived from basic oxides and hydroxides.
- These salts retain the negatively charged ions together with metallic ions e.g
ZnOHCl(basic zinc chloride)
 Methods of preparation of salts
- Methods chosen depend on whether the salt is soluble or insoluble in water.
- Soluble salts are prepared by crystallization.
- Insoluble salts are prepared by precipitation. Hence salt obtained as a suspension is filtered
off, washed with distilled water and dried.
- Salts can be prepared by using any of these methods;
 Direct synthesis
Cu(s) + S(s) heat CuS(s)

2Fe(s) + 3Cl2(g) heat 2FeCl2(s)

 Action of acids on metals

 Action of acids on insoluble oxides or hydroxides
CuO(s) + H2SO4(aq) CuSO4(aq) + H2O(l)
Zn(OH)2(s) + 2HCl(aq) ZnCl2(aq) + 2H2O(l)

 Action of acids on insoluble carbonates

 Reaction of acids and alkalis
2 NaOH(aq) + H2SO4(aq) Na2SO4(aq) + 2H2O(l
KOH(aq) + HCl(aq) KCl(aq) + H2O(l)

 Double decomposition or precipitation e.g

AgNO3(aq) + NaCl(aq) AgCl(s) + NaNO3(aq)
BaCl2(aq) + H2SO4(aq) BaSO4(s) + 2HCl(aq)

Properties of Salts
- All nitrates are soluble.
- All chlorides except silver chloride, mercury(I) chloride and lead(II) chloride are soluble.
However lead(II) chloride is soluble in hot water.
- All sulphates except barium, lead(II) and mercury (I) sulphate are soluble in water. Calcium
sulphate is slightly soluble.
- Only carbonates of alkali metals and ammonium are soluble.
- Only sulphides of alkali metals and ammonium are soluble.
- Phosphates of alkali metals and ammonium are soluble.
(d) Double Salts – are salts in which there are two different anions or cations e.g hydrated
potassium aluminium sulphate(KAl(SO4)2.12H2O), hydrated diammonium iron(II)
sulphate(Fe(NH4)2(SO4)2.6H2O) and trona(Na2CO3.NaHCO3.2H2O).
- Double salts are usually crystalline solids with specific shapes.

Action of Heat on Salts

1. Carbonates
- Pure carbonates of potassium and sodium are not affected by heat. Only lose their water of
crystallization.
- Other metal carbonates decompose on heating to corresponding metal oxides and carbon(IV)
oxide(CO2) e.g
CaCO3(s) heat CaO(s) + CO2(g)
White white
 ZnCO3(s) heat ZnO(s) + CO2(g)
White white

CuCO3(s) heat CuO(s) + CO2(g)

green black

PbCO3(s) heat PbO(s) + CO2(g)

White orange – hot
Yellow - cold

- Ammonium carbonates decompose to form ammonium gas, carbon(IV) oxide and steam i.e
(NH4)CO3(s) heat NH3(g) + CO2(g) + H2O(g)

2. Nitrates
- Potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate decompose to form oxygen and a white residue of
potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate respectively i.e
2KNO3(s) heat 2KNO2(s) + O2(g)
- Nitrates of silver and mercury decompose to give nitrogen(IV) oxide, oxygen and the
corresponding metal i.e
2AgNO3(s) heat 2Ag(s) 2NO2(g) + O2(g)

Hg(NO3)2(s) heat Hg(s) 2NO2(g) + O2(g)

- Ammonium nitrate decompose to give steam and nitrogen(IV) oxide and oxygen i.e
2Ca(NO3)2(s) heat 2CaO(s) 4NO2(g) + O2(g)

2Cu(NO3)2(s) heat 2CuO(s) 4NO2(g) + O2(g)

Blue black