Acids/Bases General

Here is a general page about acids and bases.

Vocabulary:

  • Brønsted-Lowry Acid: proton donors (increase [$H_3 O^+$] )
  • Brønsted-Lowry Base: proton acceptor (increase [$OH^-$] )
  • amphiprotic: can act as an or base
  • Lewis Acid: electron-pair acceptor
  • Lewis Base: electron-pair donor

Characteristics:

  • Acid strength
    • stronger acid: more positive charge; smaller size
  • Strong Acid/Base
    • complete dissociation in solution
  • Weak Acid/Base
    • partial dissociation in solution
  • Polyphonic
    • more than one acidic group
  • How can we track how acidic/basic something is?