Nitric acid Nitric acid can oxidize non-active metals such as copper and silver. With these non-active or less electropositive metals the products depend on temperature and the acid concentration. For example, copper reacts with dilute nitric acid at ambient temperatures with a 3:8 stoichiometry: The nitric oxide produced may react with atmospheric oxygen to give nitrogen dioxide. With more concentrated nitric acid, nitrogen dioxide is produced directly in a reaction with 1:4 stoichiometry: Upon reaction with nitric acid, most metals give the corresponding nitrates. Some metalloids and metals give the oxides; for instance, Sn, As, Sb, and Ti are oxidized into SnO,
Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory to become its conjugate base, A. The base, B, can accept a proton to become its conjugate acid, HB. Most acid-base reactions are fast so that the components of the reaction are usually in dynamic equilibrium with each other. Consider the following acid–base reaction: Acetic acid, CHCOOH, is an acid because it donates a proton to water (HO) and becomes its conjugate base, the acetate ion (CHCOO). HO is a base because it accepts a proton from CHCOOH and becomes its conjugate acid, the hydronium ion, (HO). The reverse of an acid-base reaction is also an acid-base reaction, between the