Acids and bases Assignment Help
In the field of science related to materials and compounds, the scientists have always tried to classify the elements based on the different kinds of attributes they hold. It can be seen as very true because everywhere we see elements, we find a way to categorize them in some of the other ways. the best example of the same is the periodic table which makes a life of every chemist complete. In the same way, people in this field tried to classify chemical compounds on the basis of the acidity or basicity in them. they were named to be acids and bases. Acids and bases are everywhere around us, they are not just a theoretical potion that we learn in chemistry as a subject. From the vinegar that you put in your meal to the soap that is present in the washroom, our life is surrounded by various types of acids and bases. In this article, we will be discussing the basic characteristics of acids and bases and the ways by which one can distinguish between the same. If you are someone who wants to learn about acids and bases in the subject of chemistry, this article might be just right for you.
History and overview of Acids and bases
The history of acids and bases dates back to the year 1884 and is related to a chemist named Arrhenius. He was determined to categorize the elements into acids and bases based on the outcome that was being given when the different type of chemical compounds was placed in water. The determining criteria were the hydrogen positive ions that were released when an acidic substance was dipped in water. Similarly, when a base was put in water, there was seen to a rise in the hydroxide ions in the solution. Although the Arrhenius classification was pretty much great, it still had some drawbacks and that is it was valid only for elements that could be placed underwater and there was no solution about the elements that were available only in the gaseous form.
The pH scale for various types of solutions
Since now the elements have been classified as acids and bases, there was felt a need to find out the extent to which a substance was either acidic or basic. This scale made the process of finding out the same pretty easy because it is a log scale but on the negative side. some of the common facts about the same are that a neutral solution has a pH of seven, and any pH more than seven is acidic and less than seven is a basic compound. pH scale has many active applications in determining any unknown substance because the first thing the inspector does is to confirm if the compound is acidic or basic. Nowadays one of the most common ways to find out the type of compound one is dealing with is a ph paper which one simply has to dip in the solution and the paper will change its color.
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Bronsted- Lowry theory
Since we areaware that the limitation of the above read Arrhenius theory was that it was only limited to the liquid state of different material and one could find out the type of compound only in water. this is not the case with the Bronsted- Lowry theory because, in this, the determination of the same is done with the help of the transfer of protons between different elements to be tested. the theory says that when a reaction is taking place, it can be termed as an acid-base reaction if the transfer of proton is taking place from the acidic compound to the basic compound. One of the major reason this theory is globally accepted is that the compounds that are being tested could be in any state of matter unlike the theory already discussed.
Strong and weak acids
This term comes into action when we talk about the solubility of an acid in any solution. When any acidic compound gets divided into various fragments from which it was made, it is known as a strong acid. One of the most common examples of the same is the nitric acid. On the contrary, a weak acid is an acidic compound which will not break into fragments when placed in an aqueous solution. A common example of that being acetic acid. some of the names of strong acids are as follows: Hydrochloric acid, Sulphuric acid, nitric acid and many more.
Strong and weak bases: same is the case with bases as discussed above with the acids. A strong base is one which will break into its constituting particles when subjected to water. Some of the most common examples of strong bases are Ammonia.
We hope that this article was of any help to you about understanding the basics of Acids and bases and the types they can be divided in.
