Journal 1/7/16 What good are acids and bases? What do you think we can use them for? Objective Tonight’s Homework To learn what acids and bases can do Finish preparing for the lab next week

Properties and Behaviors of Acids Last time we talked about how some things can be acids or bases depending on the situation. So how do we know? And there are definitely more acids than we have on our foldable. So how do we know if something is an acid? Generally, acids will start with “H” and then have other stuff. Generally, bases with start with some stuff, then end with “OH”.

Properties and Behaviors of Acids Typically, nonmetals form acids and metals form bases. We said that some things, like water, can be either. How? If one of these substances is near an acid, it will grab the H + and become a base. If it is near a base, it will give it a H + and act as an acid. Such substances are said to be amphoteric.

Properties and Behaviors of Acids Water HCl + H 2 O  H 3 O + + Cl - Water as base NH 3 + H 2 O  NH OH - Water as acid As can be seen in the above example, water can become either an acid or a base depending what it combines with.

Properties and Behaviors of Acids All this science is great, but what does an acid actually do to stuff? It depends on what that stuff is made of. If the stuff is metal, acids react very well with it and corrode it. This means they rip atoms off the metal to combine with other things in the solution. If the stuff is organic or waxy, acids do stuff, but it’s slow and not nearly as effective.

Properties and Behaviors of Acids But what about if you spill acid on yourself? You’re organic. Shouldn’t it not do much, then? Not as much as metals, but it’ll still do plenty. That acid will break apart and tons of H + will try to bond with the water in your cells. When it does this, the water turns into H 3 O + and leaves your cells, usually ripping their way out. If acid does this to your body, we usually call it an acid burn. Please note that bases will do essentially the same thing.

Properties and Behaviors of Acids We can tell if something is an acid or base by its physical properties. Bases usually feel slippery or slimy and will smell like soap or other cleaning chemicals. Strong bases can do just as much damage as strong acids, so be careful! Soap just happens to be a fairly weak base. Acids feel the opposite. “Dry”. The liquid doesn’t stick to your skin very well. Most acids have a very strong smell that will make you pull back quickly. It’ll feel like a burning sensation in your nose. Not good!

Properties and Behaviors of Acids One thing that’s rarely mentioned are the superacids and superbases. Like you’d think, these are crazy strong chemicals. One of the strongest chemicals on your list is Sulfuric Acid. This can be strong enough to eat through glass if the concentration is high enough. The weakest superacid is 1,000 times stronger than pure sulfuric acid. The strongest is fluoroantimonic acid, at 10 quadrillion times stronger than pure sulfuric.

Properties and Behaviors of Acids Fluoroantimonic acid is so strong that if you were to drop a candle into it, the candle would dissolve the instant it touches the acid. Fluoroantimonic acid is so strong that it can’t be stored in pretty much any container. There are a few special coatings that can hold it, but that’s it. In other words, superacids behave like the kinds you see on T.V. that eat through tables and walls and just make a hole. So cool.

Properties and Behaviors of Acids Superbases are harder to describe simply because they’re so violent that they react with everything and only exist for a few seconds. Sadly, both of these things are very rare. You’ll probably never hear about them ever again.

Exit Question What do we call it if something can be either an acid or a base? amphoteric hydrated superacid acidic base corrosion none of the above