What is the conjugate seesaw?

[Leanna1H]

Could someone explain the conjugate seesaw?

[705984987]

Hello,
The conjugate seesaw I'm pretty sure just refers to the fact that the stronger an acid is, the weaker its conjugate base is. Conversely, the stronger a base is, the weaker its conjugate acid is as well.

[Andreea Soricut 1F]

This refers to how every base has a conjugate acid and every acid has a conjugate base. This is because bases accept hydrogen ions and therefore the products will be the conjugate acid since the number of hydrogen ions increased. The opposite is true for an acid in the reactants since it will donate hydrogen ions and its product will be the conjugate base since hydrogen ions decreased. Hope that helps!

[Sophia Balotescu 2B]

Yes the conjugate seesaw just tells us that whatever the conjugate pair of either a strong or weak acid/base will be the opposite. So weak bases became strong acids and strong bases become weak acids. This also applies to acids so weak acids become strong bases and strong acids become weak bases.

[Miles Dailey 1K]

A stronger acid will have a weaker conjugate base and vice versa. This is called the conjugate seesaw due to the inverse nature of the relationship, which can be visualized like a seesaw.

[Sophie Vansomphone 1J]

Essentially the weaker an acid is, the stronger the conjugate base is. The weaker a base is, the stronger the conjugate acid is.

[George Kokotsis 2L]

The stronger the acid, the weaker its conjugate base and the opposite.

[Morganne Malloy 1l]

Also a weak base has a strong conjugate acid and vise versa

[Rebecca_Park_1G]

The stronger the base, the weaker the conjugate acid. The stronger the acid, the weaker the conjugate base. The opposite applies as well!

[Isabella_Khatchikian_2I]

The conjugate seesaw states that the stronger the acid, the weaker its conjugate base is. And the stronger the base, the weaker its conjugate acid. (and vice versa).
For example, HCl + NH3 --> Cl- + NH4+
HCl (Strong acid) ---> conjugate: Cl- (Weak base)
NH3 (Weak base) ---> conjugate: NH4+ (Strong acid)