Strong and Weak Acids

• Strong acids completely disassociate in water.
• Weak acids only slightly ionize in solution
• Strong acids and bases have more "extreme" pH values than weak acids and bases.
• Examples of strong acids:

  • HCl
  • HNO3 (nitric acid)
  • H2SO4 (sulphuric acid)
• Examples of strong bases:

  • NaOH (sodium hydroxide)
  • KOH (potassium hydroxide)
  • Ba(OH)2 (barium hydroxide)
• monoprotic acid -> produces 1 mol of H+ per mole of acid (ex. HCl)
• diprotic acid -> produces 2 mols of H+ per mole of acid (ex. H2SO4)
• Examples of weak acids:

  • ethanoic acid (CH3COOH)
  • carbonic acid (CO2 in water (H2CO3))
• Examples of weak bases:

  • ammonia (NH3)
  • aminoethane (C2H5NH2)
• 3 experimental ways to distinguish between strong and weak acids/bases in equimolar solutions:

  • Concentration measurement:
  • Rate of reaction of strong acids is greater than that of weak ones.
  • pH measurement:
  • Strong acids have a lower pH than weak ones
  • Strong bases have a higher pH than weak ones
  • Conductivity:
  • Strong acids/bases are more conductive because they contain more ions in the solution