Conjugate Acids/Bases

[KC Navarro_1H]

If you determine a acid/base in a reaction based on whether or not it gains or loses an H+ proton, the conjugate acid/base is the opposite of the reactant acid/base and if the conjugate acid/base was added with water, you'd get back the original acid/base? Is this correct? Does anyone have any tips to point out conjugate acids/bases?

Thank you!

[Miya Lopez 1I]

I believe it is the opposite on the other side of the reaction. Attached is a picture of my worksheet from discussion. So from the image, I think HCl is a Bronsted acid and its conjugate base is Cl^-. H₂O is a Bronsted Base in this reaction and its conjugate acid is H₃O⁺ I'm not sure if I am exactly answering your question, sorry if I am not. But hope this helps :)

Conjugate Acids/Bases

[NatalieSDis1A]

A conjugate base is the leftover after an acid donates a proton. A conjugate acid is what is formed when a base accepts a proton. For example the conjugate base of HCO₃- is CO₃^- because the acid HCO₃^- lost a proton. So that's how I point them out. I believe you are correct about the water part because if we were to add CO₃^- to water we would would get the acid back because CO₃^- would act as base.

[Allen Chen 1J]

I believe the conjugate acid and bases are on opposite sides of the reaction, as the conjugate acid becomes the conjugate base and vice versa

[sylvie_1D]

The way I like to think about it is that in the reactants side of a chemical reaction, the acid is what gives it's H+away and the base is what will receive the H+. Though on the products side, it's the product that receives the H+ that is the conjugate acid ( it would have been the base on the reactant side) and the product that gets it's H+ taken away from ( it would have been the acid on the reactant side) is the conjugate base.

[Rummel Requerme 1E]

The way I like to think about it is that in the reactants side of a chemical reaction, the acid is what gives it's H+away and the base is what will receive the H+. Though on the products side, it's the product that receives the H+ that is the conjugate acid ( it would have been the base on the reactant side) and the product that gets it's H+ taken away from ( it would have been the acid on the reactant side) is the conjugate base.

I agree with this. This is how my Chemistry taught me this in high school and doesn't seem to be flawed so far.

[Vivian Gonzalez 1A]

Can anyone explain in more detail what a conjugate base and acid are and how to determine whether a molecule is a conjugate base or acid?

[Odalys Cuevas 1C]

What I heard was that a conjugate acid is when a proton is added (H+) and the conjugate base is when the proton is taken away (H+).


for example:

HCl + H2O--->H3O(+) + Cl(-)
- the HCl is the acid and Cl is the conjugate base since the H was taken away
- H2O is the base and the H3O is the conjugate acid since an H was added

[Mariah Guerrero 1J]

Did we cover this in class?