Video Transcript
What type of substance is formed
when a nonmetal oxide dissolves in water? (A) A salt, (B) an alkali, (C) an
acid, (D) a hydroxide, (E) a litmus solution.
To answer this question, we need to
identify the type of substance that will form when a nonmetal oxide dissolves in
liquid water.
First of all, a nonmetal oxide is a
type of covalent compound. A covalent compound is a chemical
compound made up of two or more nonmetal elements. The nonmetal elements, shown in
blue here, are found mostly on the right side of the periodic table in groups 14
through 18. Hydrogen is a nonmetal that is
found in group 1. Like it sounds, a nonmetal oxide is
a type of covalent compound that contains the element oxygen and another nonmetal
element.
Let’s clear some space to discuss
an example. An example of a nonmetal oxide is
sulfur dioxide. Sulfur dioxide contains the
nonmetal element sulfur, which has the chemical symbol S, and the nonmetal element
oxygen, which has the chemical symbol O. In the name sulfur dioxide, the
prefix di- in front of oxygen tells us that the molecule has two oxygen atoms. Since there is not a prefix in
front of sulfur, there is only one sulfur atom in the molecule. So the chemical formula of sulfur
dioxide is SO2.
At room temperature, sulfur dioxide
is a gas. Sulfur dioxide is a very smelly and
toxic gas. So we would not want to work with
it in the classroom. But let’s say a chemist added some
sulfur dioxide gas to a container of water. Some of the sulfur dioxide
molecules would react with water molecules to produce molecules of sulfurous
acid.
Let’s write a chemical equation for
this reaction. We already know that the chemical
formula of sulfur dioxide is SO2 and that the chemical formula of water is H2O. We can see from the diagram of the
sulfurous acid molecule that it has the chemical formula H2SO3. So now we have a word equation and
a chemical equation for the reaction that takes place when sulfur dioxide dissolves
in water. These equations are good examples
of how nonmetal oxides react with water.
In general, nonmetal oxides produce
acids when they dissolve in water. So, if we bring the answer choices
back up on the screen, we can select answer choice (C) as the correct answer.
In conclusion, the type of
substance formed when a nonmetal oxide dissolves in water is an acid, or answer
choice (C).
