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Acids and Alkalis

Examples of Acids.

The three common acids you will find in the laboratory are

1) Hydrochloric acid - HCl(aq)
2) Nitric acid - HNO3(aq)
3) Sulfuric acid - H2SO4(aq)

They are all strong acids - see pH.
They all ionise in water to form hydrogen ions (H+ ions).

1) HCl(aq)   arrow     H+(aq)    +      Cl-(aq)

2) HNO3(aq)   arrow     H+(aq)    +      NO3-(aq)

3) H2SO4(aq)   arrow     H+(aq)    +      HSO4-(aq)

They are all examples of hydrogen compounds with non-metals.
Hydrochloric acid is hydrogen chloride (in water).
Nitric acid is hydrogen nitrate (in water).
Sulfuric acid is hydrogen sulfate (in water).
Sulfuric acid is made using the contact process.

They are called Mineral Acids
because they were originally obtained from minerals in rocks.

Oxides of non-metals are acidic,
see  CO2NO,   SO2.

Hydrogen oxide (H2O) is Water - it is neutral, see Water.

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