Question

a. Define an acid and a base. Give two examples of each.
b.Give the name and the formulae of two strong bases and two weak bases.
c.What type of ions are formed:
i.When an acid is dissolved in water?
ii.When a base (or alkali) is dissolved in water?
d.Write the neutralization reaction between acids and bases in terms of the ions involved.
e.Write any two important uses of bases.

Answer 1

Acids and bases are substances that react together to neutralize each other and from salt and water respectively. Acids release hydrogen ions and bases release hydroxide ions.

Complete answer:
a.An acid is defined according to the Lowry-Bronsted theory as the compounds that release hydrogen ions as the only positive ion in the aqueous solution, while the bases can be defined as compounds that dissolve in water to release hydroxyl ions as the only negative ions in the aqueous medium. Examples of acids are – formic acid and hydrochloric acid. Examples of bases are – sodium hydroxide and ammonia.
b.The names of two strong bases that dissociate completely in water are - sodium hydroxide and calcium hydroxide while two examples of weak bases that do not dissociate properly in water are – ammonium hydroxide and methyl amine.
c.(i) When an acid is dissolved in water then a hydrogen ion is released which, being unstable, accepts the electron pair from the water molecules to form the hydronium ions.
(ii) When a base or an alkali is dissolved in water then the hydroxyl anions are released.
d.The neutralization reaction between acids and bases is:
${\text{HCl + NaOH}} \to {\text{N}}{{\text{a}}^{\text{ + }}}{\text{ + C}}{{\text{l}}^{\text{ - }}}{\text{ + }}{{\text{H}}_3}{{\text{O}}^ + } + {\text{O}}{{\text{H}}^{\text{ - }}}$
e.Bases have different uses, two most important uses among them are:
They are used to treat the stomach acidity, mild bases, such as magnesium hydroxide are taken for the purpose.

Note:
The neutralization reaction is defined as the reaction between an acidic and a basic substance that results in the formation of salt and water resulting to a neutral pH of the medium, this is because water is formed which has neutral pH.