Understanding Acids and Bases Acids and bases are two fundamental classes of compounds that play a crucial role in many chemical reactions. An acid is a substan...
Acids and bases are two fundamental classes of compounds that play a crucial role in many chemical reactions. An acid is a substance that releases hydrogen ions (H+) when dissolved in water, while a base is a substance that releases hydroxide ions (OH-) when dissolved in water.
The pH scale is a logarithmic scale used to measure the acidity or basicity of a solution. It ranges from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral. Solutions with a pH less than 7 are considered acidic, while those with a pH greater than 7 are considered basic (alkaline).
Problem: Calculate the pH of a solution with a hydrogen ion concentration of 1 x 10-5 mol/L.
Solution:
Therefore, the pH of the solution is 5, which is acidic.
When an acid and a base are mixed, they undergo a neutralisation reaction, where the hydrogen ions from the acid react with the hydroxide ions from the base to form water. The products of this reaction are a salt and water.
Salts can be prepared by various methods, including:
Electrolysis is the process of using an electric current to drive a non-spontaneous redox reaction. It can be used to extract metals from molten or aqueous ionic compounds. Half-equations are used to represent the oxidation and reduction processes occurring during electrolysis.