Question

What is Monobasic Acid?

Answer 1

An acid is any hydrogen-containing substance that is capable of donating a proton (hydrogen ion) to another substance. Acidic substances are usually identified by their sour taste. An acid is basically a molecule which can donate an ${H^ + }$ ion and can remain energetically favourable after a loss of ${H^ + }$. Acids are known to turn blue litmus red.

Complete answer:
A monobasic acid has only one hydrogen ion to donate to a base in acid –base reaction. Hence, a monobasic molecule has solely one replaceable hydrogen atom. Monobasic acids ionize in water to give only one ${H^ + }$ ion per acid molecule. The dissociation (or ionization) of monobasic acid is shown below:
$H{A_{(aq)}} + {H_2}{O_{(l)}} \rightleftharpoons {H_3}O_{(aq)}^ + + A_{(aq)}^ -$
Monobasic acids are also known as monoprotic acids. Common examples of monoprotic acids in mineral acids include hydrochloric acid ($HCl$) and nitric acid ($HN{O_3}$). On the other hand, for organic acids the term mainly indicates the presence of one carboxylic acid group and sometimes these acids are known as monocarboxylic acid. Examples in organic acids include formic acid ($HCOOH$), acetic acid ($C{H_3}COOH$) and benzoic acid (${C_6}{H_5}COOH$).

Note:
Polyprotic acids, also known as polybasic acids, are able to donate more than one proton per acid molecule, in contrast to monoprotic acids that only donate one proton per molecule. Specific types of polyprotic acids have more specific names, such as diprotic (or dibasic) acid (two potential protons to donate), and triprotic (or tribasic) acid (three potential protons to donate). Some macromolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids can have a very large number of acidic protons.