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Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen, with the molecular formula H 2 SO 4. It is a colorless, odorless, and viscous liquid that is miscible with water. [7] Structure ...
For example, acetic acid is a weak acid which has a = 1.75 x 10 −5. Its conjugate base is the acetate ion with K b = 10 −14 /K a = 5.7 x 10 −10 (from the relationship K a × K b = 10 −14), which certainly does not correspond to a strong base. The conjugate of a weak acid is often a weak base and vice versa.
Nitric acid, with a pK value of around −1.7, behaves as a strong acid in aqueous solutions with a pH greater than 1. [23] At lower pH values it behaves as a weak acid. pK a values for strong acids have been estimated by theoretical means. [24] For example, the pK a value of aqueous HCl has been estimated as −9.3.
Commonly used mineral acids are sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4), hydrochloric acid (HCl) and nitric acid (HNO 3); these are also known as bench acids. [1] Mineral acids range from superacids (such as perchloric acid) to very weak ones (such as boric acid). Mineral acids tend to be very soluble in water and insoluble in organic solvents.
Similarly the strength of a strong base is leveled by the acidity of the solvent. When a strong acid is dissolved in water, it reacts with it to form hydronium ion (H 3 O +). [2] An example of this would be the following reaction, where "HA" is the strong acid: HA + H 2 O → A − + H 3 O + Any acid that is stronger than H 3 O + reacts with H ...
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.
Sulfuric(IV) acid (United Kingdom spelling: sulphuric(IV) acid), also known as sulfurous (UK: sulphurous) acid and thionic acid, [citation needed] is the chemical compound with the formula H 2 SO 3. Raman spectra of solutions of sulfur dioxide in water show only signals due to the SO 2 molecule and the bisulfite ion, HSO − 3 . [ 2 ]
Again, copper has no reaction with dilute sulfuric acid, but in concentrated sulfuric acid, the highly acidic environment and high concentration of sulfate ions allow the sulfate ions to act as an oxidizing agent. [2] Sulfuric acid is not an oxidizing agent, but the sulfate ion is a very weak oxidizing agent.