Acids and Alkalis

Examples of Acids.

The three common acids you will find in the laboratory are

Hydrochloric acid - HCl(aq), Nitric acid  -  HNO3(aq)
and Sulfuric acid - H2SO4(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)   arrow      H+(aq)    +      Cl-(aq)


Nitric acid
HNO3(aq)   arrow     H+(aq)     +      NO3-(aq)

  
Sulfuric acid
H2SO4(aq)   arrow     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.

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


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