Simplified Treatment of Aqueous Ionic Reactions. Application to Acid-Base Problems

A simplified study of aqueous ionic reactions that treats them as particle-interchange reactions is presented. Most introductory chemistry courses present these reactions separately, though their joint study is of pedagogical interest, as it is coherent and systematic, and it also provides a more global view of ionic reactions. The particle acceptor potential (AP) of a conjugate donor–acceptor pair is defined and used in a graphical method to solve acid–base problems using predominance diagrams. The AP of a conjugate acid–base pair, which measures its tendency to accept protons, allows comparisons between pairs. A treatment valid not only for acid–base reactions, but also for redox, solubility or complexation reactions, and a strategy aimed at solving practical cases are described and applied to different acid–base problems.