Acids & Bases

• Acids are Proton Donors, they dissociate in water to form H+ ions. Acids can be classfied Strong & Weak.
• Bases are H+ acceptors, Bases neutralise Acids in solution and produce a salt and certain byproducts depending on the reaction.
• Strong Acids are those that dissociate fully to release all of their H+ Ions into solution and therefore completely dissociate in aqueous solutions.
• Weak Acids only dissociate partially and release a proportion of their H+ Ions into solution; Organic Acids tend to be weak acids.
• Certain acids can be both Weak & Strong depending on how many dissociations they are able to undertake.

  For example, Sulphuric acid can be considered Weak & Strong as Sulphuric Acid in itself is Strong, However after it dissociates once, it becomes Hydrogen Sulfate, which is weak acid.

  $H_2SO_4 \rightarrow HSO4^- +$$H^+$
• Acids are classified based on how many times they are able to dissociate. Polyprotic acids contain more than one mole of ionisable Hydronium ions per mole of acid. They can be further split down into three categories.

  • Monoprotic Acids can dissociate once.
  • Diprotic Acids can dissociate twice.
  • Triprotic Acids can dissociate thrice.

  Exceptions such as Citric Acid exist, with Eight Hydrogens, but it too is considered a Triprotic acid and can only dissociate thrice, this appears to be the case with most acids with more than Three Hydrogens.
• Metal Oxides, Metal Carbonates, Metal Hydroxides and Ammonia are classified as Bases.

  Bases are solutions that neutralise Acids and produce a salt and variable byproducts depending on the reaction.
• Alkaline substances are those that release hydroxide ions into solution.
• All Alkalis are Bases, However not all Bases are Alkaline.