8.4 Strength of Acids and Bases
Reading Focus
Key Concepts
How is pH used to describe the concentration of acids and bases?- How do strong acids and bases differ from weak acids and bases?
- Why are strong acids and bases good electrolytes?
Vocabulary
pH
buffer
electrolyte
Reading Strategy
Comparing and Contrasting Copy the Venn diagram below. As you read, complete the diagram by comparing and contrasting acids and bases.
Figure 21 Sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda, is often added to swimming pools to regulate the acidity of the water.
On a hot summer day, you might go swimming in a pool with some of your friends. As the water evaporates from your skin, you feel cooler and refreshed.
Have you ever thought about how the water in a swimming pool is made safe for swimming? You may have noticed the odor of chlorine at a backyard swimming pool or at larger municipal pools. Certain compounds of chlorine are dissolved in the water. These compounds prevent the growth of bacteria that could make you sick.
The concentration of hydronium ions in solution must be carefully controlled in a swimming pool. If there are too many or too few hydronium ions, then the right compounds of chlorine will not be present. Figure 21 shows a pool maintenance worker adding sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO3, to the water. Sodium bicarbonate can be used to lower the concentration of hydronium ions in solution.
How can you describe the acidity or basicity of a solution? One way is to determine the concentration of hydronium or hydroxide ions present in solution. Another way is to describe how readily those hydronium ions or hydroxide ions formed.
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