The convention of writing acids always places the acidic hydrogen atoms first in the formula. Therefore you will always know that HF (aq), HCl (aq), HBr (aq), HI (aq) and nitric acid, HNO3, all have 1 acidic hydrogen atom. Sulfuric acid, H2SO4, has 2 acidic hydrogen atoms, H3PO4 (phosphoric acid) has 3 acidic hydrogen atoms and HC2H3O2 (acetic acid) has only 1 acidic hydrogen atom.
Now that we see how many hydrogen atoms are lost as protons, we can deduce the formula and charge for each anion formed from these acids. Note that you will get a negative charge for each proton lost. Try to work out the following questions.
| Hydrofluoric acid, HF, will produce what anion? |
| Nitric acid, HNO3, will produce what anion? |
| Sulfuric acid, H2SO4, will produce what anion? |
| Phosphoric acid, H3PO4, will produce what anion? |
| Acetic acid, HC2H3O2, will produce what anion? |