Question

How do acids and bases differ?

Answer 1

Given a specific solvent.....

Explanation:

...the ACID is the characteristic cation of the solvent, and any acidic substance added to it will cause an increase in the concentration of this cation. And a base is the characteristic anion of the solvent, and any basic substance added to it will cause an increase in the concentration of this anion.

Water is a solvent for which this equilibrium is well-quantified, and under standard conditions....

`2H_2O(l)rightleftharpoonsH_3O^+ + HO^-`

Where `K_"autoprotolysis"=[H_3O^+][HO^-]=10^-14`

And of course, we can take `log_10` of both sides of this expression to give....

`log_10{[H_3O^+][HO^-]}=underbrace(log_(10)10^-14)_"= -14 by definition of the log function"`

And so we get....

`underbrace(-log_10[H_3O^+])_"pH"underbrace(-log_10[HO^-])_"pOH"=14`

And at last an expression you will use habitually...

`pH+pOH=14`

And so given an aqueous solution that is highly acidic, `pOH` tends high....`pH` tends low to negative...and in a base solution vice versa. Got all that?