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Amphoteric

  • Page ID
    38586
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    A species that has the potential to act both as an acid and as a base according to Brønsted-Lowry Theory is said to be amphoteric.

    eg: Water

    amphoteric1.png

    The water molecule has hydrogen atoms and, therefore, could act as an acid in a reaction. The oxygen atom in the water molecule has two lone pairs, one of which could be used to form a bond with a \(H^+\(, and, therefore, the water molecule could act as a base in a reaction. Since water has the potential to act both as an acid and as a base, water is amphoteric.

    amphoteric2.png


    This page titled Amphoteric is shared under a All Rights Reserved (used with permission) license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Gamini Gunawardena via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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