Amphiprotic
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Re: Amphiprotic
Hi! An amphiprotic molecule can act as both an acid and a base, because it is able to either donate or accept a proton. For example, H2O is amphiprotic because it can donate a proton and become OH-, or accept a proton and become H3O+.
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Re: Amphiprotic
You might have heard the prefix amphi- from amphipathic molecules, molecules that have both hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions. Amphiprotic means it can either donate or accept a proton, thus acting as an acid when it donates a proton, and a base when it accepts a proton.
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Re: Amphiprotic
Amphiprotic means it can act as an acid or a base, as it can accept or donate protons.
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Re: Amphiprotic
Hi! If something is amphiprotic it means that it is able to act as both a base and an acid. This means that it can either donate or accept a proton. This comes from our definition of Bronsted-Lowry acids and bases which states that an acid is a proton donor and a base is a proton donor. An example of a amphiprotic substance is water since it can either donate a proton to a base and result in the formation of OH-. Here, water is acting as an acid since it donates its proton to the base. The opposite phenomenon can also occur where H2O accepts the proton that an acid is donating, making it so that water is acting as a base and resulting in the formation of H3O+. Hope this helps!
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