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Sample
Study Sheet: Identification of Strong and Weak Acids
and Bases
Tip-off
When
you are asked to identify a substance as either (1) an Arrhenius strong acid,
(2) an Arrhenius weak acid, (3) an Arrhenius strong base, (4) an Arrhenius weak
base, or (5) not acidic or basic in the Arrhenius sense (neutral), you can use
the following procedure.
General Steps
Step #1:
Identify the substance as an acid, a base, or neither.
Acid names:
The names of the uncharged acids end in acid.
The names for the only ionic compounds
you are expected to recognize as acidic end in hydrogen sulfate or
dihydrogen phosphate.
Acid formulas:
Molecular acids have one of these forms: HX(aq) or HaXbOc.
Acidic ionic compounds have formulas that include HSO4-
or H2PO4-.
Base Names and Formulas:
We expect ionic compounds that contain
group 1 or 2 metal cations to be basic except those containing:
Cl-, Br-, I-, NO3-,
ClO4- neutral.
HSO4-, H2PO4-
acidic
Ammonia, NH3, is a base.
Step #2:
If you have
an acid or base, determine whether it is strong or weak.
We will consider all acids except HCl(aq), HBr(aq), HI(aq),
HNO3, HClO4, and H2SO4 to be weak.
We will consider all bases except metal hydroxides to
be weak.
 Click here to see an example.
Click here to see an exercise.
Return to
the Acid/Base Page.
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