Essays

The Arrhenius Theory

When an acid or base dissolves in water, a certain percentage of the acid or base particles will break up, or dissociate (see dissociation ), into oppositely charged ions. The Arrhenius theory defines an acid as a compound that can dissociate in water to yield hydrogen ions, H + , and a base as a compound that can dissociate in water to yield hydroxide ions, OH -  . For example, hydrochloric acid, HCl, dissociates in water to yield the required hydrogen ions, H + , and also chloride ions, Cl -  . The base sodium hydroxide, NaOH, dissociates in water to yield the required hydroxide ions, OH - , and also sodium ions, Na + .

The Brönsted-Lowry Theory

Some substances act as acids or bases when they are dissolved in solvents other than water, such as liquid ammonia. The Brönsted-Lowry theory, named for the Danish chemist Johannes Brönsted and the British chemist Thomas Lowry, provides a more general definition of acids and bases that can be used to deal both with solutions that contain no water and solutions that contain water. It defines an acid as a proton donor and a base as a proton acceptor. In the Brönsted-Lowry theory, water, H 2 O, can be considered an acid or a base since it can lose a proton to form a hydroxide ion, OH - , or accept a proton to form a hydronium ion, H 3 O + (see amphoterism ). When an acid loses a proton, the remaining species can be a proton acceptor and is called the conjugate base of the acid. Similarly when a base accepts a proton, the resulting species can be a proton donor and is called the conjugate acid of that base. For example, when a water molecule loses a proton to form a hydroxide ion, the hydroxide ion can be considered the conjugate base of the acid, water. When a water molecule accepts a proton to form a hydronium ion, the hydronium ion can be considered the conjugate acid of the base, water.

Titration

A titration is a technique where a solution of known concentration is used to determine the...