Question

critical thinking questions

1. why do carbonic and sulfuric acid require two h⁺ ions to bond, but hcl and hno₃ only have one h⁺?
2. phosphoric acid is made from the phosphate ion and h⁺ ions. write the formula for phosphoric acid.

Explanation:

Question 9 (Subfield: Chemistry)

Step1: Analyze Acid Anions

Carbonic acid (\(H_2CO_3\)) comes from carbonate ion (\(CO_3^{2-}\)), sulfuric acid (\(H_2SO_4\)) from sulfate ion (\(SO_4^{2-}\)). These anions have a -2 charge, so they need 2 \(H^+\) (each \(H^+\) is +1) to neutralize the charge: \(2\times(+1) + (-2) = 0\).

Step2: Analyze HCl and \(HNO_3\) Anions

HCl comes from chloride ion (\(Cl^-\)), \(HNO_3\) from nitrate ion (\(NO_3^-\)). These anions have a -1 charge, so only 1 \(H^+\) is needed: \(+1 + (-1) = 0\).

Step1: Identify Ion Charges

Phosphate ion is \(PO_4^{3-}\), \(H^+\) has +1 charge.

Step2: Balance Charges

To neutralize \(PO_4^{3-}\) (charge -3), we need 3 \(H^+\) (each +1): \(3\times(+1) + (-3) = 0\). So the formula is \(H_3PO_4\).

Answer:

Carbonic (from \(CO_3^{2-}\)) and sulfuric (from \(SO_4^{2-}\)) acids’ anions have a -2 charge, requiring 2 \(H^+\) to neutralize. HCl (from \(Cl^-\)) and \(HNO_3\) (from \(NO_3^-\)) anions have -1 charge, needing 1 \(H^+\).

Question 10 (Subfield: Chemistry)