{"id":265963,"date":"2025-07-22T14:45:36","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T14:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=265963"},"modified":"2025-07-22T14:45:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T14:45:38","slug":"below-are-two-reactions-students-wrote-for-the-balanced-equation-of-carbonate-ion-acting-as-a-bronsted-lowry-base-in-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/22\/below-are-two-reactions-students-wrote-for-the-balanced-equation-of-carbonate-ion-acting-as-a-bronsted-lowry-base-in-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Below are two reactions students wrote for the balanced equation of carbonate ion acting as a Bronsted-Lowry base in water"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Below are two reactions students wrote for the balanced equation of carbonate ion acting as a Bronsted-Lowry base in water: Choose the answer which correctly describes these equations (1) CO32- (aq) Hzo () HCO3 (aq) OH (aq) (2) CO3?- (aq) 2 HzO () == HCO3 (aq) H3O’ (aq) both (1) and are correct Only (2) is correct and (1) is incorrect: both (1) and [ (2) are incorrect Only (1) is correct and (2) is incorrect:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The correct answer is: Only (1) is correct and (2) is incorrect.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explanation:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Let’s break down both reactions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reaction (1):<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

CO32\u2212(aq)+H2O(l)\u21ccHCO3\u2212(aq)+OH\u2212(aq)\\text{CO}_3^{2-} (\\text{aq}) + \\text{H}_2\\text{O} (\\text{l}) \\rightleftharpoons \\text{HCO}_3^- (\\text{aq}) + \\text{OH}^- (\\text{aq})CO32\u2212\u200b(aq)+H2\u200bO(l)\u21ccHCO3\u2212\u200b(aq)+OH\u2212(aq)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • In this reaction, the carbonate ion (CO32\u2212\\text{CO}_3^{2-}CO32\u2212\u200b) is acting as a Bronsted-Lowry base<\/strong>, which means it is accepting a proton (H+\\text{H}^+H+) from water.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • When the carbonate ion (CO32\u2212\\text{CO}_3^{2-}CO32\u2212\u200b) accepts a proton from water, it forms bicarbonate (HCO3\u2212\\text{HCO}_3^-HCO3\u2212\u200b) and hydroxide ions (OH\u2212\\text{OH}^-OH\u2212).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • This is a correct representation of a Bronsted-Lowry base behavior because carbonate ion is accepting a proton to produce the conjugate acid (bicarbonate) and hydroxide.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Reaction (2):<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    CO32\u2212(aq)+2H2O(l)\u21ccHCO3\u2212(aq)+H3O+(aq)\\text{CO}_3^{2-} (\\text{aq}) + 2 \\text{H}_2\\text{O} (\\text{l}) \\rightleftharpoons \\text{HCO}_3^- (\\text{aq}) + \\text{H}_3\\text{O}^+ (\\text{aq})CO32\u2212\u200b(aq)+2H2\u200bO(l)\u21ccHCO3\u2212\u200b(aq)+H3\u200bO+(aq)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • In this reaction, the carbonate ion (CO32\u2212\\text{CO}_3^{2-}CO32\u2212\u200b) is supposedly acting as a Bronsted-Lowry base, but the product here includes hydronium (H3O+\\text{H}_3\\text{O}^+H3\u200bO+) ions, which would imply that the carbonate ion is acting as an acid (not a base).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • In fact, the carbonate ion should not produce hydronium ions (H3O+\\text{H}_3\\text{O}^+H3\u200bO+) when it acts as a base. It should form hydroxide ions (OH\u2212\\text{OH}^-OH\u2212) instead, which is seen in Reaction (1).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Therefore, Reaction (2) is incorrect because it does not properly represent the behavior of carbonate ion as a Bronsted-Lowry base.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Conclusion:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      • Reaction (1)<\/strong> correctly describes the behavior of the carbonate ion acting as a Bronsted-Lowry base by accepting a proton and forming hydroxide ions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Reaction (2)<\/strong> is incorrect because it implies the formation of hydronium ions, which would suggest an acidic behavior rather than a basic one.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Thus, the correct answer is: Only (1) is correct and (2) is incorrect.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Below are two reactions students wrote for the balanced equation of carbonate ion acting as a Bronsted-Lowry base in water: Choose the answer which correctly describes these equations (1) CO32- (aq) Hzo () HCO3 (aq) OH (aq) (2) CO3?- (aq) 2 HzO () == HCO3 (aq) H3O’ (aq) both (1) and are correct Only (2) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-265963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265963\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}