If a reaction requires a "strong" acid - what does this mean? Does it mean any acid of a specific concentration or pH? Are only certain acids classed as "strong"? I have read on Wikipedia that it needs to ionise completely in an aqueous solution - in this case, is a strong acid (for example, HCl) still classed as a strong acid if it is in a 0.00001M solution?
Answer
The strength or weakness of an acid is independent of its concentration. A strong acid dissociates completely in solution, so $\ce{HCl}$ at any molarity would be considered strong, and $\ce{HCOOH}$ (for example) at any molarity would be weak. It is more enlightening to consider $K_a$ values, which are essentially the equilibrium constants for the ionization of an acid $\ce{HA}$. $$K_a=\frac{[\ce{H}^+][\ce{A}^-]}{[\ce{HA}]}$$ This value will either be very small (<<1) or very large (>>1000). Acids with very small $K_a$ are considered weak, and acids with very large $K_a$ are considered strong (the $K_a$ of strong acids is usually not stated and assumed to be infinite).
Addendum: The $K_a$ value is concentration-independent because you are only interested in how well the acid dissociates from its molecular form. If you had $0.0000001\ \text{mol}\cdot\text{dm}^{-3}\ \ce{HCl}$, practically every molecule of $\ce{H-Cl}$ would dissociate into $\ce{H^+}$ and $\ce{Cl^-}$ no matter how many there are. But if you had $12 \ \text{mol}\cdot\text{dm}^{-3}\ \ce{HCOOH}$ (methanoic acid), only a small proportion of the $\ce{HCOOH}$ would dissociate into $\ce{H^+}$ and $\ce{HCOO}^-$, irrespective of how many you had to start.
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