Thursday, June 9, 2016

What is the difference between a strong acid and a weak acid?

A strong acid is one that completely ionizes in solution to produce hydrogen ions and weak acid is one that shows less than 100% ionization in solution.


The strength of an acid isn't the same thing as its concentration. A strong acid can be either concentrated or dilute, but a concentrated strong acid will have more hydrogen ions than a weak acid of the same volume and concentration.


The strong acids are:


hydrochloric acid, `HCl`


...

A strong acid is one that completely ionizes in solution to produce hydrogen ions and weak acid is one that shows less than 100% ionization in solution.


The strength of an acid isn't the same thing as its concentration. A strong acid can be either concentrated or dilute, but a concentrated strong acid will have more hydrogen ions than a weak acid of the same volume and concentration.


The strong acids are:


hydrochloric acid, `HCl`


hydroiodic acid, `HI`


hydrobromic acid, `HBr`


nitric acid, `HNO_3`


sulfuric acid, `H_2SO_4`


perchloric acid, `HClO_4`


Some common weak acids are:


acetic acid, `HC_2H_3O_2`


carbonic acid,` H_2CO_3`


phosphoric acid, `H_3PO_4`


nitrous acid, `HNO_2`


When these weak acids dissolve in water most of the acid molecules stay intact and only a small percentage ionize.


When an acid ionizes in water it produces the hydronium ion, `H_3O^+` , which is also represented as the hydrogen ion `H+` . Here's an example of ionization of HCl shown both ways: 


`HCl + H_2O -gt H_3O^+ + Cl^-`


`HCl -gt H^+ + Cl^-`


No comments:

Post a Comment

What is the Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, and Falling Action of "One Thousand Dollars"?

Exposition A "decidedly amused" Bobby Gillian leaves the offices of Tolman & Sharp where he is given an envelope containing $1...