Meaning & use
amphiprotic
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivecomparablechemistry
Able to act as an acid by giving up a proton or as a base by taking one, depending on what it reacts with.
Grammar: Usually not graded in practice; it describes a substance: an amphiprotic molecule.
Patterns
- an amphiprotic substance
- amphiprotic in nature
Water is amphiprotic because it can both donate and accept protons.
The bicarbonate ion is amphiprotic, so it can neutralize both acids and bases.
Students were asked to name one amphiprotic species in the reaction.
Common combinations
- amphiprotic substance
- An amphiprotic substance can act as either acid or base.
- amphiprotic species
- The amphiprotic species buffers the solution.
- amphiprotic solvent
- Ethanol is an amphiprotic solvent.
- amphiprotic ion
- Hydrogen carbonate is an amphiprotic ion.
Synonyms and how they differ
- amphoteric
- Amphoteric is broader because it covers any substance reacting as acid or base, while amphiprotic specifically involves protons.
- amphiprotic species
- This phrase just adds a noun; it is not different in meaning, but chemists use it for ions as well as molecules.
Opposites
Word family
- amphoteric adjective
- able to react as acid or base
- proton noun
- a positively charged particle, the hydrogen ion
- protic adjective
- able to donate a proton
- aprotic adjective
- unable to donate a proton
Commonly confused: amphiprotic or amphibious? amphiprotic or amphoteric?
amphiprotic vs amphibious
Amphibious means able to live or move on both land and water, and it has no chemistry meaning.
amphiprotic vs amphoteric
Amphoteric includes metal oxides such as aluminum oxide that do not exchange protons, so it is not exactly the same.
Practice
Why is water called amphiprotic?
Choose one answer.
Amphiprotic means able to give or take a proton. Water does both, which makes it the textbook example, but the other options describe different properties.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “amphiprotic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.