Question

What is a Bronsted acid?

Answer 1

A substance that donates an `"H"^+` ion (proton) to form a conjugate base.

Explanation:

An example would be acetic acid.

`underbrace("CH"_3"COOH")_color(red)("acid") + "NH"_3 rarr "NH"_4^+ + underbrace("CH"_3"COO"^"-")_color(red)("conjugate base")`

As you can see, acetic acid has donated a proton to ammonia and has become what we call a conjugate base, an acid that has lost a proton.