Acids and Bases 6A.13

[AKatukota]

For 6A.13, how would you know if the ion is an acid or base?

For example, for F- and H-, how do you know F- is a Lewis base and H- is a Lewis base?
And why would BF3 be a Lewis acid?

[Benjamin Feng 1B]

Lewis bases donate electrons in a reaction with a lewis acid. In this case, F- and H- all have full set of electrons, which can form bonds with positive cations. In this sense, they are "donating" an electron pair. BF3 is missing an electron pair for a full octet, so it will form a coordinate bond with an atom that can donate it. It accepts an electron pair, making it a Lewis acid.

[Osvaldo SanchezF -1H]

For ions, the basic rule is that a cation will always be an acid and a cation will be a base. To determine if molecules are a base or an acid, you can form an equation where it reacts with water and if it forms hydroxide then the molecule is a base but if it form hydronium then it is an acid.