Basicity and Uses of Acids

 Hello fam, hope we are getting something from the lessons so far? Let’s now get into the idea of the basicity of an acid. We define the basicity of an acid as the number of replaceable hydrogen atoms in one molecule of the acid. Let’s put it this way; you have many clothes in your house but not all your clothes are meant to be worn outdoors. I am sure that you do not go to your office or school wearing a pyjamas. Is your pyjamas not a cloth? It sure is but it’s not the kind of cloth that should be worn outdoors. Now you get my point? I am sure you do! If you still don’t get it then reach me via whatsapp, messenger or calls/text.


So an acid may have many hydrogen atoms in a molecule of acid but not all the hydrogen atoms in the acid can be replaced by another positive ion when a salt is formed. Remember our definition of a salt yesterday? You may want to quickly review our lesson yesterday to check up that detail.

We can also look at the basicity of the acid as the number of hydrogen ions that are produced from one molecule of an acid when the acid is dissolved in water. For instance; HCl(aq) -- H^+(aq) + Cl^-(aq) (Only one hydrogen ion is produced here)

Let us now look at the various kinds of basicity of acids;
1) Monobasic acids: These are acids that contain only one replaceable hydrogen atoms. Examples include HCl, HBr, CH3COOH etc. I know that the last acid mentioned would surprise you because there are four hydrogen atoms in the molecule but only one hydrogen atom(The one at the far right of the molecule) is replaceable. Remember the pyjamas analogy above? That’s what is playing out here. Out of the four hydrogen atoms present, only one hydrogen atom is replaceable.
2) Dibasic acids: These are acids that have two replaceable hydrogen atoms in the molecule. Examples include; H2SO4, H2CO3 etc.
3) Tribasic acids: These are acids that contain three replaceable hydrogen atoms in the molecule. A popular example of this is H3PO4.

Now over to the uses of uses of acids!
1) Many acids are used as foods remember that I mentioned ascorbic acid in the first lesson? Yes, that is the vitamin C that is contained in most of the fruits that you take.
2) Many acids are used as drugs. Aspirin is acetyl salicylic acid which has anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects.
3) Some acids are used as drying agents (dessicants) because they are able to absorb moisture. A good example of this is sulfuric acid.
4) Some acids are very good oxidizing agents especially for organic material. A very good example of this is per chloric acid.
5) Some acids have catalytic activities. That is, they can speed up a chemical reaction. A good example of this is the use of sulfuric acid as a catalyst in esterification reactions.
6) Many detergents and cleaning agents contain sulfonic acids which play a very crucial role in the cleaning process. This unique role would be discussed in a later series.
7) As a food preservative, vinegar, a diluted acetic acid solution, is employed.
8) In batteries (wet cells), sulfuric acid is frequently utilized as the electrolyte in the battery.
9) The industrial production of explosives, dyes, fertilizers, and paints uses nitric acid and sulfuric acid.
10) The primary ingredient in a variety of soft drinks is phosphoric acid.

Hope today’s lesson made sense to you. Reach out to us quickly If you have any question.


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