What are amphoteric oxides? Give an example. Write balanced chemical equations to justify your answer.

Explanation

Metal oxides showing both acidic and basic nature.
Example : `Al_(2)O_(3)`/ZnO(or any other)
`Al_(2)O_(3) +6HCI rarr 2AlCi_(3) + 3H_(2)O`
`Al_(2)O_(3) + 2NaOH rarr 2NaAlO_(2) + H_(2)O`
Detailed Answer :
Oxides of metals which have both acidic as well as basic behaviour are known as amphoteric oxides. Examples are aluminum oxide and zinc oxide. Amphoteric oxides react with acids as well as base to form salt and water. ZnO reacts with hydrochloric acid (acid) to form zinc chloride (salt) and water thus acting as basic oxide.
`underset("oxide")underset("Zinc")(ZnO(s)) + underset("(Acid)")underset("Hydrochloric acide")(2HCI(aq)) rarr underset("(Salt)")underset("Zinc chloride")(ZnCL_(2)(aq)) + underset("Water")(H_(2)O(I))`
ZnO reacts with sodium hydroxide (base) to form sodium zincate (salt) and water thus, acting as acidic oxide.
`underset("oxide")underset("Zinc")(ZnO(s)) + underset("(Base)")underset("Sodium hydroxide")(2NaOH(aq)) rarr underset("(Salt)")underset("Sodium zincate")(Na_(2)ZnO_(2)(aq)) + underset("Water")(H_(2)O(I))`