http://www.ck12.org Chapter 7. Chemical Nomenclature
7.3 Acids and Bases
Lesson Objectives
- Define acids and bases in terms of the ions that are produced when each type of compound is dissolved in
water. - Be able to name acids when given their chemical formulas.
- Write the correct formula for an acid when given its name.
- Name and write formulas for bases.
Lesson Vocabulary
- acid
- base
- binary acid
- oxoacid
Check Your Understanding
Recalling Prior Knowledge
- What are cations and anions, and how are they formed?
- How do ionic compounds and molecular compounds compare structurally?
- How do you make sure that the formula for an ionic compound is electrically neutral?
Acids and bases are two very important classes of chemicals that you probably use every day. Many foods and
beverages contain acids, such as citrus fruits and juices, soda, and vinegar (Figure7.7). Bases are very prevalent in
cleaners such as ammonia, and most drain cleaners use a strong base as their active ingredient. Acid-base chemistry
will be covered in great detail in a later chapter. In this lesson, we will focus on the nomenclature used for these two
types of compounds.
Acids
An acid can be defined in several ways. For the purposes of this chapter, the most straightforward description is that
anacidis a molecular compound that contains one or more hydrogen atoms and produces hydrogen ions (H+) when
dissolved in water.
This is a different type of compound than the others we have seen in this chapter. Acids are molecular, which means
that in their pure state, they exist as individual molecules and do not adopt the extended three-dimensional structures