Acid is a proton donor and base is a proton accepter?
first of all, please respond to this, i have a huge test tomorrow and would appreciate any help i can get!
According to the Bronsted- Lowry model, acid gives a proton in an acid reaction and the base takes the proton... well given this example...
HCl + H2O ----> H3O + Cl
if the HCL would be the acid, why isn't the Cl H2CL instead because the acid gives a proton.. and why isn't the H3O OH because it loses a proton..
where am i losing it?
also, what would the full name of these pairs be-- would the HCl and the Cl be conjugate acid base pairs?
thank you so much.
You're losing it in the equation.
HCl + H2O ==> H3O^+ + Cl^-
Now, HCl is the acid because you can see it has donated a proton to H2O. How do I know it donated a proton? Because on the right side of the equation, there Cl^- is by its lonesome, without the proton it had on the left side. So clearly, HCl has lost a proton. That makes HCl the acid and it makes Cl^- the conjugate base. Now, we had H2O on the left. On the right, it is H3O^+. Clearly, the H2O has gained a H^+ (accepted a proton) to become the hydronium ion. So H2O has acted as a base because it accepted a proton, the H3O^+ is the conjugate acid. And your definitions are correct.
Firstly, let's clarify the concepts of acids, bases, and their behavior according to the Bronsted-Lowry model.
In the Bronsted-Lowry model, an acid is defined as a substance that can donate a proton (H+), while a base is a substance that can accept a proton. This model focuses on the transfer of protons during chemical reactions.
In the reaction you provided:
HCl + H2O ----> H3O+ + Cl-
HCl is indeed the acid in this equation, as it donates a proton to water (H2O), which acts as a base in this case. This proton transfer forms the hydronium ion (H3O+) and chloride ion (Cl-).
Now, regarding your question about why the conjugate acid-base pairs aren't formed differently, it's important to understand that the proton transfer does not result in a rearrangement of atoms within the molecules. The chloride ion (Cl-) is not bonded to two hydrogen atoms (H2Cl) because the proton (H+) donated by HCl is accepted by water, forming H3O+ (hydronium). Similarly, the hydronium ion (H3O+) does not become hydroxide (OH-) by "losing" a proton. The OH- ion is formed when water acts as a base and accepts a proton from another substance.
In this reaction, the conjugate acid-base pairs are:
- HCl (acid) and Cl- (conjugate base)
- H2O (base) and H3O+ (conjugate acid)
To identify conjugate acid-base pairs, you look for the species that differ by the gain or loss of a proton in a reaction.
Remember, in an acid-base reaction, the proton (H+) transfer occurs, but the atoms within the molecules remain the same.
I hope this helps you understand the concept better. Good luck with your test! If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.