Characteristics Of Water: Acids And Bases Are Everywhere
Acids and Bases Are Everywhere
Every liquid you see will probably have either acidic or basic traits. Water (H2O) can be both an acid and a base, depending on how you look at it. It can be considered an acid in some reactions and a base in others. Water can even react with itself to form acids and bases. It happens in really small amounts, so it won't change your experiments at all. It goes like this:
2H2O --> H2O + H+ + OH- --> H3O+ + OH-
See how the hydrogen ion was transferred?
Most of the time, the positive and negative ions in distilled water are in equal amounts and cancel each other out. Most water you drink from the tap has other ions in it. Those special ions in solution make something acidic or basic. In your body there are small …show more content…
A chemist named Svante Arrhenius came up with a way to define acids and bases in 1887. He saw that when you put molecules into water, sometimes they break down and release an H+(hydrogen) ion. At other times, you find the release of an OH- (hydroxide) ion. When a hydrogen ion is released, the solution becomes acidic. When a hydroxide ion is released, the solution becomes basic. Those two special ions determine whether you are looking at an acid or a base. For example, vinegar is also called acetic acid. (Okay, that gives away the answer.) If you look at its atoms when it's in water, you will see the molecule CH3COOH split into CH3COO- and H+. That hydrogen ion is the reason it is called an acid. Chemists use the word "dissociated" to describe the breakup of a …show more content…
You're also going to learn about Brønsted-Lowry ideas. These two chemists from Denmark and England looked at acids as donors and bases as acceptors. What were they donating and accepting? Hydrogen ions. It's a lot like the first definition we gave, where an acid breaks up and releases/donates a hydrogen ion. This newer definition is a little bit more detailed. Scientists used the new definition to describe more bases, such as ammonia (NH3). Since bases are proton acceptors, when ammonia was seen accepting an H+ and creating an ammonium ion (NH4+), it could be labeled as a base. You didn't have to worry about hydroxide ions anymore. If it got the H+ from a water molecule, then the water (H2O) was the proton donor. Does that mean the water was the acid in this situation?
Every liquid you see will probably have either acidic or basic traits. Water (H2O) can be both an acid and a base, depending on how you look at it. It can be considered an acid in some reactions and a base in others. Water can even react with itself to form acids and bases. It happens in really small amounts, so it won't change your experiments at all. It goes like this:
2H2O --> H2O + H+ + OH- --> H3O+ + OH-
See how the hydrogen ion was transferred?
Most of the time, the positive and negative ions in distilled water are in equal amounts and cancel each other out. Most water you drink from the tap has other ions in it. Those special ions in solution make something acidic or basic. In your body there are small …show more content…
A chemist named Svante Arrhenius came up with a way to define acids and bases in 1887. He saw that when you put molecules into water, sometimes they break down and release an H+(hydrogen) ion. At other times, you find the release of an OH- (hydroxide) ion. When a hydrogen ion is released, the solution becomes acidic. When a hydroxide ion is released, the solution becomes basic. Those two special ions determine whether you are looking at an acid or a base. For example, vinegar is also called acetic acid. (Okay, that gives away the answer.) If you look at its atoms when it's in water, you will see the molecule CH3COOH split into CH3COO- and H+. That hydrogen ion is the reason it is called an acid. Chemists use the word "dissociated" to describe the breakup of a …show more content…
You're also going to learn about Brønsted-Lowry ideas. These two chemists from Denmark and England looked at acids as donors and bases as acceptors. What were they donating and accepting? Hydrogen ions. It's a lot like the first definition we gave, where an acid breaks up and releases/donates a hydrogen ion. This newer definition is a little bit more detailed. Scientists used the new definition to describe more bases, such as ammonia (NH3). Since bases are proton acceptors, when ammonia was seen accepting an H+ and creating an ammonium ion (NH4+), it could be labeled as a base. You didn't have to worry about hydroxide ions anymore. If it got the H+ from a water molecule, then the water (H2O) was the proton donor. Does that mean the water was the acid in this situation?