ACIDS AND
BASES
p H S C A L E A N D I N D I C AT O R S
FROM THE SYLLABUS
• indicator colour and the pH scale are used to classify aqueous
solutions as acidic, basic or neutral
• pH is used as a measure of the acidity of solutions and is
dependent on the concentration of hydrogen ions in the solution
IDENTIFYING ACIDS AND
BASES
• How do you know if something is an acid or a base?
• Acids and bases can be identified using an indicator.
• Indicators change colour depending on the hydrogen ion
concentration of the solution.
• This colour change tends not be exact; rather it occurs
over a range of concentrations.
INDICATORS
LITMUS PAPER L ea
r
this n
!
LITMUS
• Dye extracted from lichen
• Blue litmus paper turns red under acidic conditions and
red litmus paper turns blue under basic or alkaline
conditions
• Neutral litmus paper is purple
• Red litmus contains a weak acid. When it is exposed to a
basic compound, the hydrogen ions react with the added
base. The product of the reaction has a blue colour, so the
wet red litmus paper turns blue in alkaline solution.
• Limitations?
Universal Indicator L ea
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this n
!
pH 0 pH7 pH14
pH SCALE
• Ranges from < 0 to >14
• pH = 7 = neutral
• pH < 7 = acidic
• pH >7 = basic
THE BASIS OF THE pH SCALE
• In water a small number of the molecules ionise.
H2O(l) ⇌ H+ (aq) +OH-(aq).
• In pure water at 25°C, the concentration of H+ is just
1 x 10-7 mol L-1.
• Since H+ and OH- are formed in equal amounts in the
self-ionisation reaction, the concentration of OH- in
pure water must also be 1 x 10-7 mol L-1.
• If the concentration of H+ and OH- are equal the
solution is neutral
THE BASIS OF THE pH SCALE
• When an acid is added to pure water, the acid
ionises to form H+ ions. This means that in the
acidic solution, the concentration of H+ must be
greater than that in pure water.
• If a base, such as sodium hydroxide, is added to
water, OH- ions in solution are formed and so in
the basic solution the concentration of OH- must
be greater than that in pure water.
THE BASIS OF THE pH SCALE
Therefore at 25°C:
• in neutral solutions, such as pure water the
concentration of H+ = concentration of OH-
= 1 x 10-7 mol L-1
• in acidic solutions the concentration of H+ >
1 x 10-7 mol L-1
• in basic solutions: concentration of OH- > 1
x 10-7 mol L-1
THE BASIS OF THE pH SCALE
• Strong acids produce more H+ than weak acids
• Eg in 1 mol L-1 HCl solution, (strong acid) the
concentration of H+ is 1 mol L-1
• However, in a 1 mol L-1 CH3COOH solution, the
concentration of H+ is only about 0.004 mol L-1
pH SCALE
• The concentration of hydrogen ions, H+
provides a measure of the acidity of a solution.
• But these numbers are inconveniently small!
• The pH of an aqueous solution is defined as:
– pH= -log[H+]
– if the concentration of H+ = 10-x then the pH = x
– We represent this as [H+] = 10-pH
WHAT IS THE pH OF THESE
SOLUTIONS?
If the the concentration of H+ in:
a) pure water is 10-7 mol L-1
b) 0.1 mol L-1 HCl is 10-1 mol L-1
c) 5 mol L-1 CH3COOH is approximately 10-3 mol L-1
H+ Concentration
pH Value Example
Relative to Pure Water
0 10 000 000 battery acid
1 1 000 000 gastric acid
2 100 000 lemon juice, vinegar
What do you notice
3 10 000 orange juice, soda
4 1 000 abouttomato
the concentration
juice, acid rain
5 100 ofblack
hydrogen ions?
coffee, bananas
6 10 urine, milk
7 1 pure water
8 0.1 sea water, eggs
9 0.01 baking soda
Great Salt Lake, milk
10 0.001
of magnesia
11 0.000 1 ammonia solution
12 0.000 01 soapy water
13 0.000 001 bleach, oven cleaner
14 0.000 000 1 liquid drain cleaner
QUICK QUIZ
1. A solution with a pH of 8 has
a) a higher concentration of hydrogen ions than hydroxide
ions
b) a lower concentration of hydrogen ions than hydroxide
ions
c) the same concentration of hydrogen ions as hydroxide
ions
d) there is insufficient information to determine their
concentrations
2. Give an example of a
a) Strong acid
b) Weak acid
c) Strong base
d) Weak base
3. What is the difference between ionisation and
dissociation?
4. Both ammonia and acetic acid are described as
weak. Explain what is meant by this statement.
5. Predict and explain the conductivity of an
aqueous solution of weak acids.
6. According to Arrhenius theory, why might you
expect all acids to turn litmus paper red and all
bases to turn litmus paper blue?
7. The two stages of ionisation of sulfuric acid with
water are: …
