Amphoteric compounds

[Ryan Laureano 3I]

I'm having trouble distinguishing which compounds are amphoteric. I know the meaning of amphoteric, but I can't really determine which compounds are. Any help would be appreciated.

[MichaelRaad_1F]

An example of an Amphoteric compound is H2O because it can both lose and accept protons. If the molecule can both lose and accept protons it is amphoteric.

[Lillian Ma 1I]

I think one way to do it would be to just look to see if it would be able to form a compound after gaining and losing an H+. Most of the oxyacids with more than 1 hydrogen have a form that is amphoteric which is when they have less hydrogens than it could have. For example, HSO4- would be amphoteric because gaining an H+ would make it H2SO4 while losing an H+ would make it SO4^2-. Another example would be H2PO4 ^2- and HPO4-.

[Tessa House 3A]

Amphoteric molecules can act as both acids and bases, so to begin I generally check to see if the molecule contains hydrogen or not. If there is no hydrogen in the molecule, it cannot release a proton (acting as an acid) and is not amphoteric. If the molecule does have hydrogen in it and has a negative charge, I think that it may gain another hydrogen ion to become neutrally charged. However, it can also release the hydrogen it already has. In this case, it would be amphoteric. To distinguish if something is amphoteric, I generally try to write out an equation for it acting as an acid and a base.

[Kiyoka Kim 3C]

I agree with the above reply. I would first look to see if the compound contains protons and if it does it is an acid. Then try to see if once you donate the proton if the conjugate base can accept a proton.

[Navdha Sharma 3J]

An amphoteric compound is one that can act as both an acid and a base. Basically, it can accept and lose protons.

[Jordi M 2I]

Often conjugate bases can be made out of atoms that are metalloids such as Si, P, As, etc. HPO4- is one example of an amphoteric compound.

[Jason Knight - 1F]

An amphoteric compound is defined as a compound that can act as either an acid or a base. This means that the compound is able to accept a H+ ion or give away an H+ ion. (HCO3) is a great example.

[Nicole Bruno Dis 1B]

This layout of the periodic table is helpful in visually pointing out amphoteric compounds: