Video narration
Quick check. Question one: In HCl giving H plus and Cl minus in water, which definition is being used? Arrhenius. The clue is production of H plus in aqueous solution. Question two: In HCl plus H2O giving H3O plus plus Cl minus, which substance donates the proton? HCl. Therefore, HCl is the Bronsted-Lowry acid. Question three: In that same reaction, what is H3O plus? The conjugate acid. It formed when water accepted H plus. Question four: In BF3 plus NH3, which substance is the Lewis acid? BF3. It accepts the electron pair from NH3. Question five: Which definition fits an acid even when no water is involved: Arrhenius, Bronsted-Lowry, or Lewis? Lewis. It focuses on accepting an electron pair, not on producing H plus in water. So why can HCl be called an acid in different ways? Each definition watches a different chemical behaviour: HCl makes H plus in water, donates a proton to water, and can act through its proton in electron-pair acceptance. Different lenses, one substance.