A conjugate acid, within the Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory, is a chemical compound formed when an acid donates a proton () to a base—in other words, it is a base with a hydrogen ion added to it, as in the reverse reaction it loses a hydrogen ion. On the other hand, a conjugate base is what is left over after an acid has donated a proton during a chemical reaction. Hence, a conjugate base is a species formed by the removal of a proton from an acid, as in the reverse reaction it is able to gain a hydrogen ion. Because some acids are capable of releasing multiple protons, the conjugate base of an acid may itself be acidic. In summary, this can be represented as the following chemical reaction: Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted and Martin Lowry introduced the Brønsted–Lowry theory, which proposed that any compound that can transfer a proton to any other compound is an acid, and the compound that accepts the proton is a base. A proton is a nuclear particle with a unit positive electrical charge; it is represented by the symbol because it constitutes the nucleus of a hydrogen atom, that is, a hydrogen cation. A cation can be a conjugate acid, and an anion can be a conjugate base, depending on which substance is involved and which acid–base theory is the viewpoint. The simplest anion which can be a conjugate base is the solvated electron whose conjugate acid is the atomic hydrogen. Acid–base reactions In an acid–base reaction, an acid plus a base reacts to form a conjugate base plus a conjugate acid. The acid loses a proton and the base gains a proton. In chemical diagrams which illustrate this, the new bond formed between the base and the proton is shown by an arrow that conventionally starts on an electron pair from the base and whose arrow-head ends at the hydrogen ion (proton) that will be transferred: In this case, the water molecule is the conjugate acid of the hydroxide ion after the latter received the hydrogen ion donated by ammonium. On the other hand, ammonia is the conjugate base for the acid ammonium after ammonium has donated a hydrogen ion and produced the water molecule. Also, OH− can be considered as the conjugate base of , since the water molecule donates a proton to give in the reverse reaction. The terms "acid", "base", "conjugate