Is it an acid or a base?
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Is it an acid or a base?
When given a compound, how do we know if it will gain or lose H+ just from looking at its formula?
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Re: Is it an acid or a base?
We can tell if it donates or accepts a proton by the manner it dissociates. For example, if we were given the salt NH3Cl we would decide this is a base due to the fact that its reaction with water would produce a hydroxide concentration. I find it easier to tell if you add water to it and see whether or not it makes either a hydroxide concentration or proton concentration.
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Re: Is it an acid or a base?
Another way you can check is by drawing a Lewis structure and checking to see if it has a lone pair to which an H+ can bond or to see if it has any hydrogen atoms that the compound can easily release.
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Re: Is it an acid or a base?
You can also look for any part of the compound that has a strong dipole moment, bc that can usually tell you where an extra hydrogen can go
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Re: Is it an acid or a base?
I am also confused on not just determining if something is an acid or base, but determining whether or not something is a WEAK acid or base. Can any of you clarify please?
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Re: Is it an acid or a base?
By the brosted-lowry model, a molecule is an acid if it denotes a proton and produces hydronium ions after reacting with water, and a molecule is a base if it takes a proton to produce a hydroxide ion after reacting with water. Generally if a molecule has a nitrogen atom, it's lone pair can attract a hydrogen from water which makes it a base.
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