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Terms

 
Acid  -  A substance that has the potential to donate a proton or accept an electron pair.
 
Acidic  -  Having a pH less than 7.
 
Base  -  A substance that can accept a proton, release OH-, or donate an electron pair.
 
Basic  -  Having a pH greater than 7.
 
Buffer  -  A solution composed of an acid and its conjugate base that serves to moderate the pH of the solution.
 
Conjugate Acid  -  A molecule that can be described as a base that has gained one proton.
 
Conjugate Base  -  A molecule that can be described as an acid that has lost one proton.
 
Dissociate  -  Separate into its ion constituents.
 
Indicator  -  A molecule whose conjugate acid or conjugate base has a different color.
 
pH  -  A measure of the hydrogen ion concentration, it is equal to - log [H+].
 
pKa  -  A measure of the strength of an acid, it is equal to – log Ka, where Ka is the acid dissociation constant in water.
 
pKb  -  A measure of the strength of a base, it is equal to – log Kb, where Kb is the base dissociation constant in water.
 
Strong Acid  -  An acid with a pKa less than zero. Strong acids completely dissociate in water.
 
Strong Base  -  A base with a pKb less than zero. Strong bases completely dissociate in water.
 
Titration  -  An experiment that neutralizes an unknown amount of acid or base with a known volume and concentration of acid or base to determine the amount of unknown acid or base.
 
Weak Acid  -  An acid with a pKa greater than zero. Weak acids do not completely dissociate in water.
 
Weak Base  -  A base with a pKb greater than zero. Weak bases do not completely dissociate in water.
 
 
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