Conjugate Acids and Bases

[Mrudula Akkinepally]

Hello everyone!

I know this might sound stupid but what's the point of conjugate acids and bases? Like I know it's just the terminology, but why does it have a name? Do they serve a purpose aside from being a base's/acid's counterpart in a reaction?

Please let me know!

Thank you :)

[Emily Vu 1L]

hi! no stupid questions >:(

so from what i've seen so far, we're going to need to know whether conjugate bases/acids are strong or weak when we evaluate if a salt acts as an acid/base. we touched briefly on this in chem 14a but when i was doing the sapling for week 2, this comes up again.

essentially, if we know that in an ionic compound, the cation is the conjugate acid of a weak base, and the anion is the conjugate base of a strong acid, then we can conclude the salt is acidic. that kind of thing! hope this helps!

[Kylie Joe 2A]

Hi! I think something that's also important to note about conjugate acids and bases are the way their strength relates to one another in a reaction. A stronger acid will naturally have a weaker base and vice versa, which I believe comes up when we consider H3O+ and OH- concentrations in a reaction.

[David Jen 1J]

I think it highlights the reversible action of a acid base reaction. In cases where the acid/base aren't strong, the conjugates could potentially play a role in regulating environments (pH), such as bicarbonate in the ocean and our blood.

[Akemi Karamitsos 1E]

How would we determine if something is neutral given its conjugate? I'm pretty sure it has something to do with salts, but I'm still confused.