How can you tell if an acid/base is polyprotic?

[Ananta3G]

Hi! How does one tell if an acid/base is polyprotic? Can someone give me some examples of acids and bases that meet these conditions? Thanks!

[Ashley Tran 2I]

You can tell if something is a polyphonic acid if it has more than one H+ cation. For example H2S,H2SO4,H3PO4.

Polyphonic bases can accept more than one proton. It can be recognized by compounds with cations of a greater than +1 charge. This is because OH- is -1 so if the cation is more than +1 we need more OH- to balance out the charge. For example, Mg(OH)2, Ca(OH)2, etc.

[Ying Yan 1F]

Usually, if a molecule has more than one hydrogen molecule, it means it is polyprotic (I.e. H2SO4) since it shows that they are able to donate more than one proton. As for polyprotic bases, they are able to accept more than one protons, therefore, you can look out for those when you see a molecule with > 1+ charge. Hope that helps!

[Shrayes Raman]

Molecules that have more than H+ tend to be polyprotic more often than not, especially when in the front of the name ie H2S04

[Lauren Sanchez 3D]

I remember hearing about the term amphiprotic. What is the difference between amphiprotic and polyprotic?

[Ananta3G]

I remember hearing about the term amphiprotic. What is the difference between amphiprotic and polyprotic?

polyprotic is the ability of an acid to donate multiple protons (H+) while amphiprotic means a substance can act as an acid and a base.

[Joshua Eidam 2A]

I remember hearing about the term amphiprotic. What is the difference between amphiprotic and polyprotic?

polyprotic is the ability of an acid to donate multiple protons (H+) while amphiprotic means a substance can act as an acid and a base.

Yes, but not to confuse amphiprotic with amphoteric, which are very very similar to each other. Amphiprotic is specific to donating and receiving protons, for which an amphiprotic species can accept and donate H+ ions (for example water). Amphoteric is the more broad term for a species acting and reacting both like an acid and a base. Amphiprotic species are amphoteric but not always the other way around. It is a little confusing but this website: https://www.chemguide.co.uk/physical/ac ... ories.html offers a pretty solid explanation. Just ctrl+F "amphiprotic" and it will come up with a little section about it. Hope this helps.