Question

An acid or a base dissolved in water breaks down into a positive and a _____ ion

Answer 1

Answer;

Negative ion

An acid or a base dissolved in water breaks down into a positive and a negative ion.

Explanation;

• Both acids and bases dissociate in water to produce positive (cations) and negative (anions) ions.

• For example; hydrochloric acid dissociates in water to give hydrogen ions and chloride ions;  

HCl(aq) → H⁺(aq) +Cl⁻(aq)

• A base would also dissociate to give a cation and an anion. For example;

Sodium hydroxide dissociates in water to give sodium ions and chloride ions;

NaOH(aq) → Na⁺(aq) + OH⁻(aq)

Answer 2

Negative
acids dissociate into H+ ions while bases dissociate into OH- ions