Question
Required Practical 3-Past Paper Questions Q1. This question is about acids and alkalis. (a) Dilute hydrochloric acid is a strong acid. Explain why an acid can be described as both strong and dilute. __
Answer
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Yale
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Answer
An acid can be referred to as both strong and dilute because 'strong' refers to its capacity to fully ionize in a solution and release all its hydrogen ions, while 'dilute' describes the concentration of the acid in the solution which can be modest.
Explanation
The description of an acid as strong and dilute might seem conflicting but it pertains to two different properties of the acid. An acid being strong denotes its potential to ionize completely in water, releasing all its hydrogen ions. This process has nothing to do with the concentration of the acid. Whether the acid is dilute or concentrated refers to how much acid there is in a certain amount of solution, i.e., its concentration. A dilute acid therefore, has a low concentration of acid molecules in water, regardless of whether the acid is considered weak or strong.