A Little Bit of General Chemistry
Electrochemistry and the Corrosion of Steel
Oxidation/Reduction Reactions
Some General Chemical Terminology
Acids and Bases
| Compound |
Definition |
Example(s) |
| Acid |
- Traditional inorganic chemistry: Any substance that yields hydrogen ions (H+) in an aqueous
solution is called an acid.
- Expanded definition by J.N Bronsted: Any substance that donates a proton
is an acid.
- Expanded definition by G.N Lewis: An electron acceptor. A substance that presents to the electron pair provided by a
base either an acidic acid hydrogen atom or the whole acid molecule. In the latter case,
the acid molecule is not a proton "donor" but lacks two electrons in its valence shell.
|
- Examples according to traditional definition: HCl, H2SO4, HNO3
- Examples added by the J.N Bronsted theory: ammonium ion, NH4+, and water,
H2O, are also acids.
- G.N Lewis theory adds: AlCl3, BF3.
These compounds are called Lewis acids.
|
| Base |
- Traditional inorganic chemistry: Any substance that yields hydroxyl ions (OH-) in an aqueous
solution is called a base.
- Expanded definition by J.N Bronsted: A base is a proton acceptor.
- Expanded definition by G.N Lewis: A base is an electron donor.
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