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For weak acid solutions, it depends on the degree of dissociation, which may be determined by an equilibrium calculation. For concentrated solutions of acids, especially strong acids for which pH < 0, the value is a better measure of acidity than the pH.
The equilibrium constant for this dissociation reaction is known as a dissociation constant. The liberated proton combines with a water molecule to give a hydronium (or oxonium) ion H 3 O + (naked protons do not exist in solution), and so Arrhenius later proposed that the dissociation should be written as an acid–base reaction:
The higher the percentage, the stronger the electrolyte. Thus, even if a substance is not very soluble, but does dissociate completely into ions, the substance is defined as a strong electrolyte. Similar logic applies to a weak electrolyte. Strong acids and bases are good examples, such as HCl and H 2 SO 4. These will all exist as ions in an ...
Strong acids, such as sulfuric or phosphoric acid, have large dissociation constants; weak acids, such as acetic acid, have small dissociation constants. The symbol K a , used for the acid dissociation constant, can lead to confusion with the association constant , and it may be necessary to see the reaction or the equilibrium expression to ...
On the other hand, if a chemical is a weak acid its conjugate base will not necessarily be strong. Consider that ethanoate, the conjugate base of ethanoic acid, has a base splitting constant (Kb) of about 5.6 × 10 −10, making it a weak base. In order for a species to have a strong conjugate base it has to be a very weak acid, like water.
A weak acid may be defined as an acid with pK a greater than about −2. An acid with pK a = −2 would be 99 % dissociated at pH 0, that is, in a 1 M HCl solution. Any acid with a pK a less than about −2 is said to be a strong acid. Strong acids are said to be fully dissociated.
A strong base is a basic chemical compound that can remove a proton (H +) from (or deprotonate) a molecule of even a very weak acid (such as water) in an acid–base reaction. Common examples of strong bases include hydroxides of alkali metals and alkaline earth metals, like NaOH and Ca(OH) 2, respectively. Due to their low solubility, some ...
The Brønsted–Lowry theory (also called proton theory of acids and bases [1]) is an acid–base reaction theory which was first developed by Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted and Thomas Martin Lowry independently in 1923.