Question

Define each of the following with one example:

(c) Tribasic acid.

Answer 1

An acid is a substance in which the only positive ion is hydrogen.

A tribasic acid is a substance that produces three hydrogen ions, $\left({\mathrm{H}}^{+}\right)$ per molecule of the acid, when it gets completely dissociated in water. For example, Phosphoric acid $\left({\mathrm{H}}_3{\mathrm{PO}}_4\right)$.

The chemical equation is as follows:

${\mathrm{H}}_3{\mathrm{PO}}_4\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)\rightleftharpoons 3{\mathrm{H}}^{+}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)+{{\mathrm{PO}}_4}^{3-}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)$