Acids and Bases & Writing Chemical Equation

Again, acids and bases are pure memory work. The reaction between acid and carbonates, acid and metal, base and carbonate all needs to be memorized and no short cuts can be taken.

It was interesting to see how certain items which we consume or use on a daily basis are deeply related to acids and bases. Maybe it can be considered general knowledge, but I believe that it will aid us in one way or another if we have at least some understanding of acids and bases. One interesting application of Coke is to treat wasp stings. Coke contains phosphoric acid while wasp sting is alkaline. Bee sting, on the other hand, is acidic. Someone better teach us how to differentiate this 2 yellow insects…

This topic on acids and bases do require quite a lot of self study and not everything is provided in the notes. In the days leading to the test, I had to create this "Info Sheet" which contains relevant information such as examples of strong acids and weak acids, examples of bases, strong alkalis and weak alkalis, the formula for some solutions such as ammonia solution, or gases such as ammonium gas. As compared to the other topics which nearly all the information is provided in the notes, Acids and Bases is definitely more tedious when it comes to studying. Do we just sit down there and complain? Actually, there is nothing much to complain. It is the nature of this topic that requires lots of bits and pieces of information and knowledge here and there. We can't change the topic to suit our usual studying method of using only the notes, but we can change our studying method slightly to suit the topic. Change or not to change, it is actually quite a personal choice, which can be best reflected on the test paper. 

Moving on, writing chemical equation is not that easy, but it is also not that difficult as well. Not only does it requires understanding of the chemical reaction (between acid and alkali for example), it also requires us to identify whether this particular substance is acid, alkali, metal, base, etc. After that, we have to ensure that the equation is mathematically correct by making the equation balanced.  Writing chemical equations does require some amount of practice to master it. 

Is there a link between Acids and Bases and Writing Chemical Equations? Certainly there is. If there is good understanding of acids and bases, like the reaction between acids and metal, acids and carbonates, for example, then our ability to write chemical equations would definitely be much faster and accurate.