What are conjugate acid-base pairs?

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What are conjugate acid-base pairs?

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Answer 1 · 2014-04-14T01:01:42

All acids have a conjugate base. All bases have a conjugate acid. Acids "donate" $H^{+}$ $H^(+)$ when they react. This is most easily seen when they dissociate in water:

$H_{2} S O_{4}$ $H_2SO_4$ + $H_{2} O$ $H_2O$ => $H S O_{4}^{-}$ $HSO_4^-$ + $H_{3} O^{+}$ $H_3O^+$

In this example, sulfuric acid ( $H_{2} S O_{4}$ $H_2SO_4$ ) is an acid because it "donates" $H^{+}$ $H^+$ to the water. It becomes the hydrogen sulfite ion ( $H S O_{4}^{-}$ $HSO_4^-$ ) which is the conjugate base of sulfuric acid.

The same idea applies to a base:

$N H_{3}$ $NH_3$ + $H_{2} O$ $H_2O$ <=> $N H_{4}^{+}$ $NH_4^+$ + $O H^{-}$ $OH^-$

Ammonia ( $N H_{3}$ $NH_3$ ) is a base because is "accepts $H^{+}$ $H^+$ from water to come its conjugate acid, the ammonium ion ( $N H_{4}^{+}$ $NH_4^+$ ).

This video gives an overview of acids and bases; the second half is about conjugate pairs:

Simple, easy to understand can be on this site http://www.chemteam.info/AcidBase/Conjugate-Pairs.html

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What are conjugate acid-base pairs?

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