CHEMISTRY

CHAPTER 2 – ACIDS, BASES AND SALTS

1. Why should curd and sour substances not be kept in brass and copper vessels?

Ans: Curd and sour substances contain acids which react with copper and brass to form certain
salts that are poisonous in nature and can cause food poisoning. Hence, sour substances like curd,
pickles etc., should not be kept in brass and copper vessels.

2. Which gas is usually liberated when an acid reacts with a metal? Illustrate with an example.
How will you test for the presence of this gas?

Ans: Hydrogen gas is usually liberated when an acid reacts with metal.

e.g., Zn(s) + H2SO4 (aq) ZnSO4 (aq) + H2

It can be tested by bringing a burning candle near the gas. This continues burning with a pop
sound.

3. Metal compound A reacts with dilute hydrochloric acid to produce effervescence. The gas
evolved extinguishes a burning candle. Write a balanced chemical equation for the reaction, if
one of the compounds formed is calcium chloride.

Ans: CO2 is the gas that extinguishes a burning candle. CO2 is produced when metal carbonate
reacts with acid. Since, one of the products is calcium chloride, the compound A should be
calcium carbonate.
The balanced chemical equation is,
CaCO3(s) + 2HCl(aq) CaCl2(aq) + CO2(g) + H2O(l)

4. Why do HCl, HNO3, etc., show acidic characters in aqueous solutions while solutions of
compounds like alcohol and glucose do not show acidic character?

Ans: HCl, HNO3 etc. give H3O+ ions in aqueous solution and hence show acidic character, while
the aqueous solutions of glucose and alcohol do not give H3O+ ions and hence do not show acidic
character.

5. Why does an aqueous solution of an acid conduct electricity?

Ans: An acid molecule dissociates in an aqueous solution to produce H+ (or H3O+) ions and
corresponding anions A-. These free ions carry the electrical charge from one place to other,
hence conduct electricity.
6. Why does dry HCl gas not change the colour of dry litmus paper?

Ans: Dry HCl gas does not contain any H+ (or H3O+) ions, so it does not show any acidic
property. Hence, it does not change the colour of dry litmus paper. To show its acidic behavior, it
needs wet litmus paper.

7. While diluting an acid, why is it recommended that the acid should be added to water and not
water to the acid?

Ans: Dilution of a concentrated acid is a highly exothermic reaction and a lot of heat is
generated. If water is added to the concentrated acid, the heat generated may cause the mixture to
splash out and cause burns. The glass container may also break due to excessive heating. So acid
must always be added slowly to water with constant stirring.

8. How is the concentration of hydronium ions (H3O+) affected when a solution of an acid is
diluted?

Ans: When acid is diluted, the concentration of hydronium ions (H3O+) per unit volume
decreases.

9. How is the concentration of hydroxide ions (OH-) affected when excess base is dissolved in a
solution of sodium hydroxide?

Ans: When excess base is dissolved in the solution of NaOH, the concentration of hydroxide ions
(OH-) per unit volume increases due to dissociation of NaOH as well as the other base in
aqueous solution.

10. You have two solutions, A and B. The pH of solution A is 6 and pH of solution B is 8.

(i) Which solution has more hydrogen ion concentration?

(ii)Which of this is acidic and which one is basic?

Ans: (i) pH=6 has more H+ ion concentration.

(ii) Solution having pH 6 is acidic and solution B having pH 8 is basic.

11. What effect does the concentration of H+(aq) ions have on the nature of the solution?

Ans: Higher the concentration of H+ ions in a solution, more acidic is the solution.

12. Do basic solutions also have H+ ions? If yes, then why are these basic?

Ans: Yes, basic solutions also contain H+ ions but they are basic because in these solutions,
concentration of OH- is much higher than that of H+ ions.
13. Under what soil condition do you think a farmer would treat the soil of his fields with
quicklime (calcium oxide) or slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) or chalk (calcium carbonate)?

Ans: These fertilizers [CaO, (CaOH)2, CaCO3] are of basic nature. Therefore, their use will be
beneficial, if the soil is acidic. The purpose is to neutralize or decrease the acidity of the soil.

14. What will happen if a solution of sodium bicarbonate is heated? Give the equation of the
reaction involved.

Ans: When a solution of sodium bicarbonate is heated, it gives sodium carbonate, carbon dioxide
and water.

2NaHCO3 Na2CO3 + H2O + CO2

15. Why does distilled water not conduct electricity, whereas rain water does?

Ans: Distilled water does not contain any ions and have no electrolytes. Hence, it does not
conduct electricity. However, rain water contains acidic impurities. Since acids are good
conductors of electricity, rain water conducts electricity.

16. Why do acids not show acidic behavior in the absence of water?

Ans: Acids ionize only in the presence of water to give ions.

HCl + H2O H3O+ + Cl-

However, in the absence of water, acids do not ionize to give H3O+ ions and therefore, donot
behave as acids.

17. Five solutions A, B, C, D and E when tested with universal indicator showed pH as 4, 1, 11,
7 and 9 respectively. Which solution is: (a) neutral (b) strongly alkaline (c) strongly acidic (d)
weakly acidic (e) weakly alkaline? Arrange the pH in increasing order of hydrogen-ion
concentration.

Ans: (a) D (b) C (c) B (d) A (e) E

Increasing order of hydrogen ion concentration: C ˂ E ˂ D ˂ A ˂ B

18. Equal lengths of magnesium ribbons are taken in test tubes A and B. Hydrochloric acid is
added to test tube A, while acetic acid is added to test tube B. In which test tube will the fizzing
occur more vigorously and why?

Ans: Fizzing occurs in both the test tubes due to the evolution of hydrogen but it is faster in test
tube A because HCl is stronger acid than acetic acid and therefore, reacts faster with magnesium
ribbon.
19. Fresh milk has a pH of 6. How do you think the pH will change as it turns into curd? Explain.

Ans: pH will decrease from 6 because, during curd formation lactic acid is produced which
makes it acidic. When milk changes into curd, its pH changes and becomes less than 6.

20. A milkman adds a very small amount of baking soda to fresh milk.
(a) Why does he shift the pHof the fresh milk from 6 to slightly alkaline?
(b) Why does this milk take a long time to set as curd?

Ans: (a) Alkaline medium does not allow milk to turn sour easily.

(b) This milk takes a longer time to set to curd because it is alkaline and takes longer time for
bacteria to make it acidic.

21. Plaster of Paris should be stored in a moisture proof container. Explain why?

Ans: Plaster of Paris in contact with moisture changes to hard solid mass, gypsum. Hence it
should be stored in a moisture proof container.

22. What is a neutralization reaction? Give two examples.

Ans: The reaction between an acid and base to form salt and water is called neutralization
reaction.

Eg. HCl + NaOH NaCl + H2O

HNO3 + KOH KNO3 + H2O