CH 223 Chapter Guides

Chapter Guide Two: Overview | Resources | Practice

  Overview of Chapter Guide Two

The goal of this assignment is explore the concepts of acids and bases. Acids and bases permeate our lives in many unseen ways, and learning about the pH scale, equilibria, and the interactions of acids and bases together can help us understand our lives. We shall look at several acid and base theories to see how they apply to our systems.

Chapter 14 Part I introduces us to the concept of acids and bases. Although we briefly discussed acids earlier in CH 221, we will now be able to apply our understanding of equilibrium to acids and bases to see if a particular acid or base is strong or weak. The acid dissociation constant, Ka, and the base dissociation constant, Kb, will help us understand the strength of the species. We will look again at pH in addition to other "pX" scales (such as pOH, pKa, pKb, etc.) We will also look at acids and bases reacting together and how to calculate the resulting pH of the mixture. We shall also look at the important concepts of Lewis acids and bases to see how acid base theory can be extended to almost any type of reaction.

For a complete list of important concepts, see the Chapter 14 Part I Study Guide.

  Resources for Chapter Guide Two

For this module, you should read Chapter 14 Part I in your textbook.

The following screencasts might prove useful to you as you study this chapter.

The Chapter Fourteen Part I lecture notes which accompany this section will be helpful to you when going through the material. These are Web versions of the lecture notes I use in my "normal" CH 223 class and should let you see what is important to me in this chapter. You can also view the Lecture Notes in presentation software: Keynote, PowerPoint

A handout on acids and bases is available from Chapter Fourteen Part I. Feel free to explore its contents.

Once you have mastered the concepts listed above, check out the Chapter Fourteen Part I Concept Guide for a series of worked problems relating to this chapter. They will help you to ensure the mastery of the knowledge from this chapter.

Finally, test yourself (and get extra-credit in the bargain!) on the following chemistry concepts. If you get 9 out of 10 correct (or some multiple thereof), submit the information to me to receive extra credit.

  1. Identifying Acids and Bases
  2. Hydrolysis of Acids and Bases
  3. Proton Transfer Reactions
  4. pA, pB, A and B
  5. pH, pOH, [H+], [OH-]
  6. More pH Relationships
  7. pH of Weak Acid Solutions
  8. pH of Weakly Basic Solutions
  9. Solutions of Acids and Bases
  10. Calculating K for Acid-Base Reactions
  11. Using the Weak Acid Approximation

  Practice the Concepts of Chapter Guide Two

Please complete problem set #2 to further explore acid and base concepts. Problem set #2 covers several questions from Chapter 14 Part I, and it can be found here. We will discuss problems like these during recitation, so come prepared to ask and answer questions.

For additional practice, try completing practice problem set #2 (with answers included at the end) and/orthe non-assigned problems in Chapter 14 Part I. Answers to many of those problems are listed in the back of your textbook.

If you need assistance on these problems, you have several options. You can visit the AVID / Learning Success Center located above the MHCC library on the Mt. Hood Community College campus; they have tutors available to help you with your chemistry homework. You can also contact me if you have any questions.

TTest your mastery of the subject matter by trying the self quiz for Chapter 14 Part I. This is an ungraded test that you can use to gauge your comfort level with these concepts. This sample Quiz #2 (answers) (which was given during a previous year's CH 223 class) will help you understand the kind of questions that will be asked on the quiz.

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