They define acids as proton donors, and bases as proton acceptors
If you were to have:
HNO3 + H2O -> H3O+. + NO3-
You can see that the nitric acid (HNO3) gave a hydrogen ion which has 1 proton, 0 neutrons and 0 electrons to the water so we just say that it gave a proton.
Now let's see a base
NH3 + H2O -> NH4+ + OH-
Now, you can see that the ammonia (NH3) gained a hydrogen ion (proton) from the water to become ammonium(NH4). which means it accepted a proton
That's basically it. Feel free to ask if you have any further questions
Answer:
A Brønsted-Lowry acid is a proton donor.
A Brønsted-Lowry base is a proton acceptor.
Explanation:
[tex]\underbrace{\hbox{NH$_{3}$}}_{\hbox{base}} + \underbrace{\hbox{HCl}}_{\hbox{acid}} \longrightarrow \text{NH$_{4}^{+}$} + \text{Cl$^{-}$}[/tex]
The NH₃ is a Brønsted-Lowry base because it accepts a proton to become NH₄⁺.
The HCl is a Brønsted-Lowry acid because it donates a proton to NH₃ and becomes Cl⁻ .
