Identify the Lewis acid and Lewis base from among the reactants
i...

Question

Identify the Lewis acid and Lewis base from among the reactants
in each equation.
a. Ag+(aq) + 2 NH3(aq)Ag(NH3)2+(aq)

Accepted Answer

Hey everyone. So today we are asked to identify which of the reactant in the following reaction between silver and ammonia are the lewis acid and Lewis base. Now recalling our definitions, a Lewis acid, Let's sort this out. A Lewis acid is any compound that can freely accept electrons. It is an electron except her. And conversely a Lewis base is an electron donor. It can donate electrons into solution. With this in mind we can go ahead and take a look at our to react ints. We have a G plus, A G plus or silver plus and we have ammonia, N H three. So right off the bat we can see that silver is a cat ion. In this case it has a charge of plus one. So as a positively charged metal, that means that it can accept electron pairs. So by that definition that means that this is a Lewis acid. We have to look no further. Similarly, by that same logic, if silver is the lewis acid, then ammonia has to be the Lewis base. However, just to double check this, we can go ahead and draw the Lewis structure for ammonia. To see if there are any lone pairs that can be donated, which signifies that electrons can be donated by ammonia. So ammonia nitrogen has five valence electrons. Remember we need to find out how many valence electrons we have in a molecule to draw out it's loose structure. So we have five valence electrons from the nitrogen. We have three hydrogen, each of which have one valence electron each. So one times three which will give you eight valence electrons. Now, ammonia will be our central atom. It will be bonded to three hydrogen, Which gives us six total electrons present in single bonds And the remaining two of the total eight valence electrons present in Ammonia can be added as a lone pair on these nitrogen as such. Because there's this nitrogen because there's this lone pair on the nitrogen. Sorry, that means that it can be donated into solution, thus solidifying the fact that ammonia is our louis base space. Therefore once again, silver pluses are loose, acid and ammonia is our lewis base. I hope this helps. And I look forward to seeing you in the next one.

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