Arrhenius Acid Theory Essay

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Most substances fall on a scale ranging from the most acidic to the the most basic with neutral substances falling somewhere in the middle. Scientists call this the pH scale. pH levels are measured in numbers,0 to 14. The closer a substance is to zero the more acidic it would be. The closer to 14 the more basic a substance would be.Now what defines an acid and a base, one might ask? There are three ways of defining acids, each singling out a specific property. The first theory is the Arrhenius Theory with states, that an acid is a substance that produces the ion H+ when in a water solution, while a base is a substance which produces the ion OH- when in a water solution. Examples of an Arrhenius acid are HCl and HNO3. Examples of an Arrhenius base are NaOH and AlOH3. …show more content…

This called the Bronsted-Lowry Theory. This theory can be shown in the chemical reaction HCl+H2O -> Cl-+ H3O. The HCl gave up its hydrogen to the water.Furthermore, the products left over from reaction have their own names as well. The acid (HCl) having given up its hydrogen (Cl-) is called the conjugate base. The base (H2O) having received the hydrogen (H3O), is called the conjugate base. The last theory is, The Lewis Theory. In the Lewis Theory an acid is any substance in a chemical equation which accepts an electron pair and a base is any substance which gives away its electron pair. This theory is different because it is broad enough to include substances which do not include oxygen or hydrogen. An example of this can be seen in the reaction, BF3 + F− → BF4− BF3 is the acid and F− is the base. Outside of these definitions there are common properties of acids and bases. The both conduct electricity. Acids are sour in taste and turn litmas paper red. Bases are bitter in taste and turn litmas paper

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