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Acids and Alkalis

Examples of Acids.

The three common acids you will find in the laboratory are

Hydrochloric acid - HCl_(aq), Nitric acid  -  HNO_3(aq)
and Sulfuric acid - H₂SO_4(aq)

They are all strong acids - see pH.
They all ionise (make ions) in water forming
hydrogen ions (H⁺ ions). This is what makes them acids.

Hydrochloric acid
HCl_(aq)         H⁺_(aq)    +      Cl^-_(aq)

Nitric acid
HNO_3(aq)        H⁺_(aq)     +      NO₃^-_(aq)

  
Sulfuric acid
H₂SO_4(aq)        H⁺_(aq)    +      HSO₄^-_(aq)

These three acids are all examples
of hydrogen compounds with non-metals.

Hydrochloric acid is hydrogen chloride (in water).
Nitric acid is hydrogen nitrate (in water).
Sulfuric acid is hydrogen sulfate (in water).
Sulfuric acid is made using the contact process.

The above acids are called mineral acids
because they were originally obtained from minerals in rocks.

Oxides of non-metals are acidic - see  CO₂,  NO  and  SO₂
(compare these with metal oxides).

See also carboxylic acids, some of these are solids.

Hydrogen oxide (H₂O) is Water - it is neutral, see Water.

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