[*Dreamer*]

Just revising for mock Chem after christmas holidays. Reading through the syllabus and it says that for a substance to act as an acid or base water must be present. But a carbonate is/acts as a base but it doesn't contain water ie. CaCO3. What do you guys think?

[EierVonSatan]

Yeah it needs water to act as a base, very much like HCl is only an acid when dissolved in water. Its the carbonate ion that acts as the base, and for this to occur the lattice energy must be overcome by the water dissolving the CaCO3.

[*Dreamer*]

Originally Posted by EierVonSatan

Yeah it needs water to act as a base, very much like HCl is only an acid when dissolved in water. Its the carbonate ion that acts as the base, and for this to occur the lattice energy must be overcome by the water dissolving the CaCO3.

Ohhh. I totally confused myself. I thought that the H2O was somewhere in the formula for the acid/base. Thanks !