What is an Acid?

: An acid is a compound that contains one or more hydrogen atoms and produces hydrogen cations(H+) when dissolved in water. Acids are electrically neutral substances! Rules Acids: There are three general types of acids. The first are acids that form hydrogen and an element such as HCl, or Hydrochloric acid. These are generally named with the prefix hydro+the element name but drop the ending and add ic. The second type are acids that form from Hydrogen and Polyatomics. However this breaks down into two other sections.. One kind of Polyatomic acid are acids ending in ic. These acids come from polyatomics generally ending in ate, such as phosphate, which would become phosphoric acid. The other kind of Polyatomic acid ends in ous. These acids usually come from polyatomics generally ending in ite. For example nitrate would turn into Nitric acid.
Element Example 1: Chlorine 1)Hydrochlorine Polyatomic ending in ate 1) Take polyatomic 2) Replace ending with ic 3) End with (polyatomic without ending)ic Acid Example 2: Nitrate 1) Nitrate Polyatomic ending in ite 1) Take polyatomic 2)Replace ending with ous 3) End with (polyatomic without ending)ous Acid Example 3:Sulfite 1) Sulfite

1) Take element and add Hydro in front of name 2) drop element ending and replace with ic 3) End with Hydro(elemen t name without ending)ic Acid

2) Hydrochloric

2) Nitric

2)Sulfurous

3) Hydrochloric Acid

3) Nitric Acid

3)Sulfurous Acid

There are a few exceptions such as Cyanide (CN) which would become Cyanic Acid (HCN). Getting the Nomenclature from the name: In order to get the chemical formula for acids from the name look at their ending in order to find what was it before becoming an acid. If said acid starts with Hydro(element)ic than find the root of the element and that will be that element of your nomenclature and you just need to balance it with the hydrogen. Example: Hydrobromic Acid (HBr). You can tell that its bromine which is -1 charge so its paired with 1 hydrogen atom because ACIDS ARE NEUTRAL. If the Acid does not start with hydro then chances are its a polyatomic and you basically do the same thing figure out the root to see what the polyatomic is. Just remember ic endings are usually ate polyatomics and ous endings are usually ite polyatomics. Example: Chromic Acid(H2CrO4). Notice the room suggest that it involves chromium, yet it doesnt have hydro in front, so it must be a polyatomic. Also since it ends it ic then the polyatomic should be chromate (CrO4-2). Since Chromate is -2 charge it must be paired with 2 Hydrogen atoms which is where we get out nomenclature for Chromic Acid. Polyatomic acids ending in ous follow a similar but modified process.

Acid Nomenclature Worksheet

Name ______________________________________

Write the formula for each of the acids listed below:

1. Nitric acid 2. Chloric acid 3. Acetic acid 4. Hydrobromic acid 5. Sulfurous acid 6. Chlorous acid 7. Hydrochloric acid 8. Phosphoric acid 9. Nitrous acid 10. Hydrofluoric acid 11. Perchloric acid 12. Hydroiodic acid 13. Phosphorous acid 14. Carbonic acid 15. Sulfuric acid

Name each of the following acids:

16. HClO4 17. H3PO4 18. HCl (aq) 19. H2SO4 20. HNO2 21. HI (aq) 22. HC2H3O2 23. HF (aq) 24. H3PO3 25. HClO3 26. H2CO3 27. H2SO3 28. HClO2 29. HNO3 30. HBr (aq)