What Are Acids And Bases?

Acids are those substances which dissociate H+ ion when dissolved in water e.g. HCI.

Chief Acids of the body are organic acids and mineral acids. The reaction H2O + Co2 ------> H2 CO3. Therefore CO2 is also considered as an acid.
Examples of Organic acids include lactic acid. Pyruvic acid, Citric acid, Malic acid, oxaloacetic acid etc. While among Mineral acids, the most common ones are phosphoric acid and Sulfuric acids.

The degree of an acid to dissociate or to liberate H+ ions is known as the strength of that acid. Strong acids with strong bases are the acids which when dissolved in water do not give off all of their H+ ions (dissociate completely) that means they have weak bases. Therefore strong acids always have weak bases.

Weak acids with strong bases are the acids which when dissolved in water do not give off all of their H+ ions (do not dissociate completely), that means they strong bases. Therefore weak acids always have strong bases.

Alkalis are those substances which dissociate OH ions when dissolved in water e.g. KOH and NaOH. Whereas bases are those substances which conjugate with H+ ions (accepts H+ ions) HCI is an acid which gives its H+ ions when dissolved in water and CI is known as the base of HCI. With which H+ ion conjugated. Chief Bases of the body includes Bicarbonate (HCO3), Hemoglobin (Hb), Oxy-hemoglobin (HbO2), Proteins and Phosphate HPO3).

A simple of way to understand Acids and Bases is by using 2 of our senses; taste and feel. By using the sense of taste we can differentiate an acid as acid taste sour and that is the reason why vinegar, lemon juice etc are considered acids. On the other hand Bases feel slippery. However this is not enough for scientist to differentiate between the two classes. A more scientific proves needs to be given.

Acids and bases can be differentiated by using the percentage of Hydrogen. With high concentration of hydrogen, a compound is considered to be acid and therefore would acquire a pH (Percentage of Hydrogen) as 1. A compound with a high pH value (as much as 14) is considered base compound. A pH value of 7 is considered to be neutral and therefore is neither an acid nor base.

Other differences that include between the two are that acids are corrosive to metals and change the litmus paper to red while bases change the litmus paper to blue.

Examples of Acids include Hydrochloric Acid (HCL) which has a pH value of 1. A strong HCL is powerful enough to melt down your finger in the solution! NaOH or Sodium Hydroxide has a ph value of 14 and is a base compound. Acids can be mixed with bases to decrease the acidity and bases can be added with acids to decrease the base.