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Knowledge and Skills Statement

Science concepts. The student understands and applies various rules regarding acids and bases.

any substance that in aqueous (water) solution tastes sour, changes blue litmus paper to red, reacts with some metals to liberate hydrogen, reacts with bases to form salts, promotes chemical reactions (acid catalysis), and has a pH less than 7

a type of chemical process wherein one or more hydrogen ions (H+) are exchanged between species that may be neutral or electrically charged

any substance that in aqueous (water) solution is slippery to the touch, tastes bitter, changes the color of indicators (e.g., turns red litmus paper blue), reacts with acids to form salts, promotes certain chemical reactions (base catalysis), and has a pH greater than 7

Research

Carvalho, Ana Paula, Angela F S S Mendonca Piedade, and M Fatima. M. Piedade. " Acid-Base Reactions with Carbon Dioxide." Journal of Chemical Education 79, no. 12 (2012):1464A-1464B. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed079p1464a

Summary:  One way to make chemistry appealing to young students is to allow them to actively participate in safe and fun chemical demonstrations. This activity reproduces two well-known demonstrations in which the chemical reagents have been replaced by common household products. It focuses on two acid-base reactions.

Research

Mohammed, Omar F, Dina Pines, Jens Dreyer, Ehud Pines, and Erik Nibbering. "Sequential Proton Transfer Through Water Bridges in Acid-Base Reactions." Science 310, no. 5745 (2005): 83-86. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3842865

Summary:  The proton transfer mechanism between aqueous Bronsted acids and bases, forming an encounter pair, has been studied in real-time with ultrafast infrared spectroscopy. Here, we show compelling experimental evidence that water also functions as a proton transfer bridge between an acid and a base, thereby stabilizing both acid and base while moving the proton along.