[Oxyale]

Okay, my test is tommorrow and this is the only thing (thankfully) that i'm alittle unsure of.

If a question asks you to write equations to show the basic nature/acidic nature of a compound, how would i go about doing it?

Eg. To show the basic nature of Na2O, i did

Na2O + H2O = 2NaOH..

....and somehow I managed to get the right answer. I tried reacting different compounds with water and the equation kinda screwed up.

Am I required to know all the acids and bases off by heart? Is there some way of recognizing acids and bases? (It's very confusing)

[spoudyal3]

Ummm ... This is a bit too late but it is a good reference I suppose. Here are the three definitions I know of for acids and bases.

Arrhenius:

• H⁺ supplied to water
• OH^- supplied to water

Bronsted-Lowry:

• donates H⁺
• accepts H⁺

Lewis:

• accepts electron pair
• donates electron pair

I do not think that I have ever used Lewis's theory to determine whether something is an acid or a base. Generally, I just write a reaction for the addition of water to whatever substance I am trying to determine acidic or basic properties for and then use either the Arrhenius or Bronsted-Lowry definitions. Hope this will be helpful in the future.

-DaKid