Strong and weak acids

• All acids ionise (become ions) in aqueous solutions. The strength of an acid is determined by how much it ionises in water. The strength of an acid is NOT the same as the concentration of an acid!
• Strong acids: fully ionise in water, meaning that all of the acid molecules break up to form H+ ions.
• Weak acids: only partially ionise in water, meaning that not all of the acid molecules break up to form H+ ions.
• Strong acids example: HCl -> H+ + Cl-
• Weak acids example: CH3COOH =/= CH3COO-
• Concentrated= a higher mass of solute dissolved in the solvent.
• Dilute= a lower mass of solute dissolved in the solvent.
• Concentration is measured in mol/dm3, so an acid with a concentration of 0.1 mol/dm3 has one mole of acid dissolved in 1000cm3 of solution (1dm3)