A Lowry-Bronsted conjugate acid/base pair for the following reactions is: HCO3− (aq) + H2O(l) → CO32− (aq) + H3O+(aq)

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A Lowry-Bronsted conjugate acid/base pair for the following reactions is: HCO3− (aq) +  H2O(l) →  CO32− (aq) +  H3O+(aq)

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To identify the Lowry–Bronsted conjugate acid/base pair, we look at which species are connected by the transfer of a proton (H+).
Option a: HCO3- / H2O. In this reaction, HCO3- donates a proton to water to become CO3^2-, while H2O acts as the base accepting the proton. However, the conjugate base of HCO3- is CO3^2-, not H2O, so this pair is not the correct conjugate pair here.
Option b: HCO3- / CO3^2-. Here, HCO3- loses a proton to form CO3^2-, and CO3^2- is the conjugate base of HCO3-. This matches the given chemical equation: HCO3- + H2O → CO3^2- + H3O+. Water acts as the base, accepting a proton to become H3O+, while HCO3- acts as the acid donor. Therefore, these two species are the conjugate acid–base pair for this reaction.
Option c: H3O+ / CO3^2-. This would imply H3O+ (the conjugate acid of water) is paired with CO3^2- as its conjugate base, but in the reaction shown, H3O+ is a product, not the conjugate partner of CO3^2-. The assignment mismatches the proton transfer direction in the given equation.
Option d: H2O / H3O+. While water and hydronium are indeed a conjugate acid–base pair (water as base, H3O+ as conjugate acid) in many acid–base contexts, they are not the conjugate partners of HCO3- and CO3^2- in this particular reaction. The reaction centers on the HCO3-/CO3^2- couple, not H2O/H3O+.
Thus, among the provided options, the pair that directly corresponds to the conjugate acid–base relationship in the given reaction is HCO3- / CO3^2-.

A Lowry-Bronsted conjugate acid/base pair for the following reactions is: HCO3− (aq) + H2O(l) → CO32− (aq) + H3O+(aq)

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