polyprotic acids

[Jayza Calderon 2A]

What are easy ways to identify polyprotic acids?

[Brandon Yu]

Polyprotic acids are specific acids that are capable of losing more than a single proton per molecule in acid-base reactions. (In other words, acids that have more than one ionizable H+ atom per molecule).

[Ethan Wang 1L]

The easiest way is to see if the molecule 1) is an acid and 2) has more than one hydrogen atom. More often than not, an acid with multiple hydrogen atoms will ultimately be capable of losing multiple hydrogen atoms.

[Alex Yeghikian 1C]

Some common polyprotic acids are sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄), phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄), and carbonic acid (H₂CO₃). In general, multiple hydrogens in the acid indicate polyproticity, since the acid can then deprotonate more than once. As an example, sulfuric acid is diprotic: