Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Amphiprotic
In chemistry, a substance is described as amphiprotic, if it can both donate or accept a proton, thus acting either like an acid or a base. An example are amino acids. See also amphoteric. Water, hydrogen carbonate ions and hydrogen sulfate ions are common examples of amphiprotic species. One distinguishing feature is that amphiprotic substances contain a hydrogen ion.
Example
A common example is the hydrogen carbonate ion, which can act as a base:
HCO3- + H3O+ → H2CO3 + H2O
Or as an acid:
HCO3- + H2O → CO32- + H3O+
Effectively making it able to accept or donate a proton (hydrogen ion).
10-26-2009 08:16:03
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The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details