In this lesson you will learn about both polyprotic acids as well as the acidic, basic or neutral character of salt solutions.

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

define polyprotic acid and explain how a polyprotic acid dissociates/ionizes (stepwise).
write dissociation reactions for polyprotic acids.
With the aid of the table of K_a and K_b values for monoprotic and polyprotic acids, calculate the pH of aqueous solutions of monoprotic or polyprotic acids.
apply a systematic problem solving approach for problems involving polyprotic acids
explain the concept of hydrolysis of water by cations or anions of dissolved salts.
predict the acidity of a salt solution by identifying cations and/or anions capable of hydrolyzing water and also by comparing the magnitude of the K_a and K_b values
arrange salt solutions in order of most acidic to most basic.

The video lesson below introduces Polyprotic Acids. Please watch and take notes.