Introduction

In this presentation you will learn that acid is just not a substance that can burn your skin or even burn a hole through a piece of metal. You will also learn what bases are. Acids can be found in food and bases in house cleaning products.

Vocabulary
Acid= Is a substance that produces hydrogen ions in a water solution. Hydronium ions= ions. Indicator= is an organic compounds that changes color in acids and bases. Base=any substance that forms hydroxide ions, in a water solution or is any substance that accepts H+ from acids.

Acids
What comes to mind when you hear the word acid? Do you think of a substance that can urn your skin or even a hole though a oiece of metal? An acid is a substance that produces hydrogen ions in a water solution. It is the ability to produce these ions that gives acids their characteristic properties. When an acid dissolves in water, H+ ions interact with water molecules to form H3O+ ions, which are called hydronium ions. Acids have several common properties. For example all acids taste sour. Some acids react with strongly with certain metals, seeming to eat away the metals as metallic compounds and hydrogen gas forms. Many foods contain acids. Also your stomach uses hydrochloric acid to help digest your food.

Bases
You might not be as familiar with bases as you are with acids. Although you can eat some foods that contain acids, you dont consume many bases. Some foods sucha as egg whites, are slightly basic. Still you come in contact with many bases every day. An example is soap. One characteristic of bases is that they feel slippery. Bases are important in many cleaning materials. A base is Base=any substance that forms hydroxide ions, OH- in a water solution or is any substance that accepts H+ from acids. One way to think about bases is as the opposite of acids. In the pure, undissolved state, many bases are crystalline solids. In solution , bases feel slippery and have a bitter taste. Strong bases are corrosive and contact with skin can result in severe burns. The indicator litmus turns blue in bases. You probably are familiar with many common bases because they are found in cleaning products used in home.

Solutions of Acids and Bases

Many products that rely on chemistry of acids and bases are solutions. Because of its polarity, water is the main solvent in these products. When a acid dissolves in water, the negative areas of nearby water molecules attract the positive hydrogen in the acid. The acid separates into ions and the hydrogen atom combines with a water molecile to form hydronium ions( H3O+). Therefore, an acid can more accuratelybe described as a compound that produces hydronium ions when dissolved in water.

Solutions of Acids and Bases

When bases that contain OH dissolve in water, the negative areas of nearby water molecules attract the positive ion in the base. The positive areas of nearby water molecules attract the OH of the base. The base dissociates into a positive ion and a negative ion a hydroxide ion (OH-). Ammonia is a base that does not contain OH. Ammonia is a commmmon household cleaner. However, products containing ammonia never should be used with other cleaners that contain that contain chlorine( sodium hypochlorite), such as some bathroom bowl cleaners and bleach.

Solution of Acids and Bases

A reaction between sodium hypoclorite and ammonia produces the toxi gases hydrazine and chloramine. Breathing these gases can severly damage lung tissues and cause death. Solutions of both acids and bases produce some ions that are capable of carrying electric current to some extent. Thus, they are said to be electrolytes.

Extra Info
Acids taste sour, are corrosive to metals, change litmus (a dye extracted from lichens) red, and become less acidic when mixed with bases. Bases feel slippery, change litmus blue, and become less basic when mixed with acids. While Boyle and others tried to explain why acids and bases behave the way they do, the first reasonable definition of acids and bases would not be proposed until 200 years later. In the late 1800s, the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius proposed that water can dissolve many compounds by separating them into their individual ions. Arrhenius suggested that acids are compounds that contain hydrogen and can dissolve in water to release hydrogen ions into solution. For example, hydrochloric acid (HCl) dissolves in water as follows: HCl H2O H+(aq) + Cl-(aq) Arrhenius defined bases as substances that dissolve in water to release hydroxide ions (OH-) into solution.

Quiz
What is the definition of acid? Give an example .

A acid is a substance that produces hydrogen ions in a water solution.

Quiz
What is the definition of base? Give an example

A base is any substance that forms hydroxide ions, OH-, in a water solution.

Quiz
Which of these is a characteristic of a base? A) They are slippery B) They taste sour C) They react strongly with ceartain metals. D) All of the above A)