What happens when an acid and base are combined?
Acids and bases are ways of classifying substances that have a certain number of hydrogen ions. Combining acids and bases produces a handful of predictable (and sometimes spectacular) effects.AcidsUnder the standard Bronsted-Lowry definition, an acid is any substance that is capable of donating a hydrogen ion–that is, a substance that, when dissolved in a solution, releases a positively-charged hydrogen proton unbonded to an electron.BasesThe same Bronsted-Lowry model defines a base as a substance capable of receiving a hydrogen ion–in essence, the opposite of an acid.pHThe strength of an acid or base is measured in pH, which is simply a scale built around the number of hydrogen ions (H+) a given molecule has. A lower pH denotes a higher H+ concentration and thus an acid; a higher pH denotes a lower H+ concentration and thus a base.NeutralizationBecause acids donate and bases receive hydrogen ions, combining them will dilute both, raising the pH of an acid and lowering that of a base
