17.1 Acid–Base Reactions
17.1a Strong Acid/Strong Base Reactions
In Chemical Reactions and Solution Stoichiometry (Unit 4) you learned that acids and
bases react to form water and a salt and that these reactions are called neutralization reactions
because, on completion of the reaction, the solution is neutral. However, acid–base
reactions do not always result in the formation of a solution with a neutral pH, and not all
acid-base reactions proceed to 100% completion (Interactive Figure 17.1.1).
Interactive Figure 17.1.1
Investigate the extent of acid-base reactions.
HCl(aq) 1 NaOH(aq)
0% 100%
H2O(,) 1 NaCl(aq)
HCl(aq) 1 NH3(aq)
0% 100%
NH4+(aq) 1 Cl–(aq)
HF(aq) 1 CH3CO2–(aq)
0% 100%
CH3CO2H(aq) 1 F–(aq)
HCN(aq) 1 NH3(aq)
0% 100%
NH4+(aq) 1 CN–(aq)
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Figure 17.1.1 Not all acid-base reactions go to 100% completion
There are four classes of acid–base reactions: strong acid + strong base, strong acid +
weak base, weak acid + strong base, and weak acid + weak base. For each, we will investigate
the extent of the reaction and the pH of the resulting solution when equimolar
amounts of reactants are combined
