A wide variety of material consists essentially of elements and compounds having different characteristics exist around us. Some of them are sour, some are bitter, while some are salty in taste.

For Example – Sour and bitter tastes of food are due to acids and bases, respectively, present in them.

Acids react with bases to produce salt whose properties are different from acid and base.

CLASSIFICATION OF ACIDS –

(i) On the basis of their source acids are of two type -

(i) Mineral acids ; (ii) Organic acids

(i) Mineral Acids (Inorganic acids) :- The acids which are usually obtained from minerals are known as inorganic acids.

Note : Aqua regia is a mixture of (3 part HCl & part HNO3) which dissolves even noble metals like Au, Pt.

(ii) Organic Acids :- The acids which are usually obtained from plants and animals are known as organic acids.

(II) On the Basis of their Basicity :-

“The basicity of an acid is the number of replaceable hydrogen atoms present in a molecule that can be produced by the complete ionization of one molecule of that acid in aqueous solution.”

Or

“Basicity of an acid is determined by number of hydronium ions (H3O+/H+(aq) produced per molecule of an acid in ionization.”

(i) Monobasic Acids :- The acid on complete ionization produce one hydronium ion in aqueous solution.