Meaning & use
acidic anhydride
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountabletechnicalchemistry
An oxide that reacts with water to form an acid, or that reacts with a base to form a salt.
Grammar: Countable: an acidic anhydride, two acidic anhydrides.
Patterns
- an acidic anhydride forms an acid
- acidic anhydride + water
Carbon dioxide is an acidic anhydride because it forms carbonic acid in water.
In the lab, the students identified the acidic anhydride produced by burning the element.
Sulfur trioxide is a well-known acidic anhydride.
Word forms
| plural | acidic anhydrides |
|---|
Common combinations
- an acidic anhydride forms an acid
- When dissolved, an acidic anhydride forms an acid.
- acidic anhydride reacts with water
- The acidic anhydride reacts with water to give a strong acid.
- a common acidic anhydride
- Carbon dioxide is a common acidic anhydride.
Synonyms and how they differ
- acid anhydride
- The shorter form is more common in chemistry texts and means the same thing.
Word family
- anhydride noun
- A compound formed by removing water from another compound.
- acidic adjective
- Having the properties of an acid.
- acid noun
- A substance that reacts with bases and turns litmus red.
Commonly confused: acidic anhydride or basic anhydride?
acidic anhydride vs basic anhydride
A basic anhydride forms a base in water, not an acid; the two terms describe opposite behavior.
Practice
What does an acidic anhydride do in water?
Choose one answer.
By definition an acidic anhydride reacts with water to form an acid. 'It forms a base' describes a basic anhydride, and the other options miss the key reaction.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “acidic anhydride”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.