Question

How will you show that acetic acid is a monobasic acid?

Answer 1

1. Monobasic acids are acids that have only one replaceable hydrogen atom.
2. Acetic acid is a monobasic acid because when it ionizes in water it produces one hydronium ion (H⁺) per molecule.

For example:

$\underset{\mathrm{Acetic}\mathrm{acid}}{{\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COOH}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{hydroxide}}{\mathrm{NaOH}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)}\stackrel{}{\to }\underset{\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{acetate}}{{\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COONa}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Water}}{{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}$

Hence, acetic acid is a monobasic acid.