In this activity, students explore the effect of chemical erosion on statues and monuments. They use chalk to see what happens when limestone is placed in liquids with different pH values. They also learn several things that engineers are doing to reduce the effects of acid rain.

Last week, Hank talked about how stuff mixes together in solutions. Today, and for the next few weeks, he will talk about the actual reactions happening in those solutions - atoms reorganizing themselves to create whole new substances in the processes that make our world the one we know and love. This week, we focus on acids and bases and their proton-exchanging ways.

Chapters:
Chemistry Can Cause Death
Acids and Bases are Complicated
Conjugate Bases
Conjugate Acids
Acid-Base Stoichiometry
Review

How do strong and weak acids differ? Use lab tools on your computer to find out! Dip the paper or the probe into solution to measure the pH, or put in the electrodes to measure the conductivity. Then see how concentration and strength affect pH. Can a weak acid solution have the same pH as a strong acid solution?

This activity is acid-base titration lab where students determine the percent of calcium carbonate in an eggshell.

In this field-based exercise, students were given a tour of an abandoned mine site and asked to utilize a set of field measurements to describe the spatial details of metal transport. This drew on previous experience with field measurements and prompted them to work together to solve an observed chemical evolution of a contaminated brook. The exercise is an excellent example for students to bring together acid-base chemistry, redox chemistry, and thermodynamic concepts together to describe a reasonably complex system. The field component was completed in a full day, but we will be expanding this next fall for a 2 day exercise (weekend). The exercise was coupled with subsequent labs to complete analysis of the water samples and accomplish speciation calculations using PHREEQCI.

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This video follows biologist Gretchen Hofmann as she studies the effects of ocean acidification on sea urchin larvae.

This short video is an excerpt from the longer video Acid Test: The Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification, produced by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). This short version summarizes the science of ocean acidification as well as the social implications.

It's no secret that greenhouse gases warm the planet and that this has dire consequences for the environment whole islands swallowed up by rising seas, animal and plant species stressed by higher temperatures, and upsets in ecological interactions as populations move to cooler areas. However, carbon dioxide has another, less familiar environmental repercussion: making the Earth's oceans more acidic. Higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere mean that more carbon dioxide dissolves in the ocean. This dissolved carbon dioxide forms carbonic acid the same substance that helps give carbonated beverages their acidic kick. While this process isn't going to make the ocean fizzy anytime soon, it is introducing its own set of challenges for marine organisms like plankton and coral.

Students research the acidification of freshwater streams and lakes, identify at least one of the sources, and determine how their daily activities contribute to the problem.

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Acidity is a tricky concept, and it’s not always like how we see it in the movies. As organic chemists, we need to know how to predict the strength of weak acids and bases. In this episode of Crash Course Organic Chemistry, we’ll learn four key factors that we can use to predict relative acidity. This important tool will help us us to predict the products of chemical reactions.

This module provides an intrioduction to acid and base chemistry. The Arrhenius and Bronsted-Lowry concepts of acids and bases are discussed as well as the pH scale and neutralization reactions.

In this video segment, the ZOOM cast demonstrates how to use cabbage juice to find out if a solution is an acid or a base.

This is a pdf of a presentation. It can be used to expand upon or introduce the topic of Acids and Bases within chemistry. It primarily goes over the basics but could be used at any point.

This is a lab followed by questions to help students understand how acids and bases interact. It also helps students understand how pH works.

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, two cast members demonstrate what happens when vinegar is added to baking soda inside a container. The resulting chemical reaction produces enough carbon dioxide to launch their paper rocket skyward.
Recommended for: Grades K-5

A link to a google presentation that covers the topics of acids, bases, pH, indicators, neutralization, and titration

This is a review of information that should have been learned regarding acids, bases, and pH. It is a series of questions followed by answers and explanations.

A car propelled by the reaction between lemon juice and baking soda has more in common with rockets and jet aircraft than one might think. In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, two cast members demonstrate the power of rocket-propelled vehicles and how to exploit the force produced by the carbon dioxide gas. Grades 3-8.

It would seem that bottles of lemon juice and rockets have only their basic shape in common. However, as two cast members from ZOOM demonstrate in this adapted video segment, when baking soda is added to the mix, a plastic bottle can act very much like a real rocket. Grades 3-8.

In this section we will be talking about the basics of acids and bases and how acid-base chemistry is related to chemical equilibrium. We will cover acid and base definitions, pH, acid-base equilibria, acid-base properties of salts, and the pH of salt solutions.