Well, you should know seven of these at least roughly... Show
...and for the rest, why don't you use the acid dissociation constants your book provides? Higher #K_a# = stronger acid. The seven common strong acids are:
Of these, the binary acids are some of the strongest, with one exception being #"HClO"_4#. We explain after-the-fact that in general,
As examples,
Setting aside the ones we picked, the remaining ones are:
Of these, the only ones that are conceptually reasonable to explain are #"HClO"# vs. #"HBrO"#.
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Strong and weak acids are important to know both for chemistry class and for use in the lab. There are very few strong acids, so one of the easiest ways to tell strong and weak acids apart is to memorize the short list of strong ones. Any other acid is considered a weak acid. Key Takeaways
Strong AcidsStrong acids dissociate completely into their ions in water, yielding one or more protons (hydrogen cations) per molecule. There are only 7 common strong acids.
Examples of ionization reactions include: HCl → H+ + Cl- HNO3 → H+ + NO3- H2SO4 → 2H+ + SO42- Note the production of positively charged hydrogen ions and also the reaction arrow, which only points to the right. All of the reactant (acid) is ionized into product. Weak AcidsWeak acids do not completely dissociate into their ions in water. For example, HF dissociates into the H+ and F- ions in water, but some HF remains in solution, so it is not a strong acid. There are many more weak acids than strong acids. Most organic acids are weak acids. Here is a partial list, ordered from strongest to weakest.
Weak acids incompletely ionize. An example reaction is the dissociation of ethanoic acid in water to produce hydroxonium cations and ethanoate anions: CH3COOH + H2O ⇆ H3O+ + CH3COO- Note the reaction arrow in the chemical equation points both directions. Only about 1% of ethanoic acid converts to ions, while the remainder is ethanoic acid. The reaction proceeds in both directions. The back reaction is more favorable than the forward reaction, so ions readily change back to weak acid and water. Distinguishing Between Strong and Weak AcidsYou can use the acid equilibrium constant Ka or pKa to determine whether an acid is strong or weak. Strong acids have high Ka or small pKa values, weak acids have very small Ka values or large pKa values. Strong and Weak Vs. Concentrated and DiluteBe careful not to confuse the terms strong and weak with concentrated and dilute. A concentrated acid is one that contains a low amount of water. In other words, the acid is concentrated. A dilute acid is an acidic solution that contains a lot of solvent. If you have 12 M acetic acid, it's concentrated, yet still a weak acid. No matter how much water you remove, that will be true. On the flip side, a 0.0005 M HCl solution is dilute, yet still strong. Strong Vs. CorrosiveYou can drink diluted acetic acid (the acid found in vinegar), yet drinking the same concentration of sulfuric acid would give you a chemical burn. The reason is that sulfuric acid is highly corrosive, while acetic acid is not as active. While acids tend to be corrosive, the strongest superacids (carboranes) are actually not corrosive and could be held in your hand. Hydrofluoric acid, while a weak acid, would pass through your hand and attack your bones. Sources
Watch Now: What are the Differences Between Acids and Bases?Which of the following is the weakest acid HF HCl HNO3 h2so4?Hydrofluoric acid (which is truly nasty stuff, and can cause horrible burns) is thus the weakest acid of the hydrogen halides, because of the strength of the HX bond, and the polarizing ability of F−
Which is weak acid HF or HI?Thus HF is weak acid compared to HBr, HCl and HI.
Which one is the weakest acid HNO3 HClO4?HClO4 is most acidic. Generally, HCl is more acidic than HNO3 but in glacial acetic medium, there are H+ ions already present and they hamper the acidity of HCl.
Is HNO3 a weak acid?Nitric acid, HNO3 H N O 3 , is a strong acid.
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