ScienceVerseLearning path: Acids and Bases
The concepts to learn before Acids and Bases, in order. Each step links to its page and, where one exists, its quiz.
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Your path
- Chemical ReactionsDirect prerequisite
A chemical reaction rearranges atoms: bonds in the starting substances (reactants) break and new bonds form, making new substances (products) with different properties. No atoms are created or destroyed, so mass is conserved and a chemical equation must balance. For a reaction to happen at all, particles must collide in the right orientation with at least the activation energy, which is why temperature changes reaction rates.
- Acids and BasesYour goal
Acids and bases are two complementary families of substances. In the Brønsted–Lowry picture (1923), an acid donates a proton (H⁺) and a base accepts one, so every acid–base reaction is a proton transfer. Strong acids such as hydrochloric acid ionise essentially completely in water, while weak acids such as acetic acid ionise only slightly. When an acid and a base react in the right proportions they neutralise each other, typically forming a salt and — for hydroxide bases — water.
Where to go next
Concepts that build directly on Acids and Bases:
- pH: pH is a number that expresses how acidic or basic a water-based solution is. It is the negative base-10 logarithm of the hydronium ion concentration, so each step of one pH unit is a tenfold change. At 25 °C a neutral solution has pH 7, acidic solutions are below 7 and basic solutions above 7; the neutral point itself shifts with temperature.