8.

4 STRONG AND WEAK ACIDS & BASES

Simulations of Strong vs Weak Acids and Bases
http://www.chembio.uoguelph.ca/educmat/chm19104/chemtoons/chemtoons3.htm

First, what does ionize mean?

To break apart (dissociate) and become ______. See below. Somethings ionize
fully (100%) while others don’t.
The more ions they make, the better electrical conductors they could be

Strong Acids - They are ___________________ in a water solution. They completely

break apart into ions. There is ____ equilibrium! There is ______ reverse reaction, it only
goes towards the _________________________________

So when the strong acid HCl is dissolved in water it _________________ breaks apart
(ionizes or dissociates)

So the equation with water would look like:

Single arrow (goes to completion)

=Strong acid

In a SA, the bond to H+ is weak

Weak Bond
H Cl + H2O  H3O(aq)+ + Cl(aq)-

Easily broken by
water

Question: What is the [HCl(g)] in 1 M HCl?

Question: What is [H3O+] in 0.20 M HCl
Answer:

________________________________________
_

Weak Acids: An Acid which is ___________________________ ionized in solution.

Have an equilibrium as reaction can go to _____________________

(In Chem 12 weak acids are usually significantly less than 100% ionized.)
(Usually < 5% ionized)

- In a solution of a weak acid, most of the molecules _________ ___ionize.

- Diagram shows acetic acid in water

-only a small % dissociates so few H+ in solution.

-the equation would be:

“The Strong 7”
These 7 acids are considered to be the only strong acids, based on the definition that a
strong acid is one that ____________________________________

All 7 ionize 100% so they can be listed in any order:

HClO4  H+ + ClO4-
HI  H+ + I-
HBr  H+ + Br-
HCl  H+ + Cl-
HNO3  H+ + NO3-
HClO3  H+ + ClO3-
H2SO4  H+ + HSO4-
 These equations are simplified and leave out water and the hydronium ion, but they
are really there.
EX:

*Note H2SO4 is a SA but diprotic

 The first ionization is 100% = H2SO4 + H2O  H3O+ + HSO4-
 The second ionization is <100% HSO4- + H2O  H3O+ + SO42

IB doesn’t have an acid table in the data booklet so you need to remember the strong 7.
There’s lots of memory tricks.
EX- "He Could Have Been Her Ideal Neighborhood Cutie, She Purred."
It stands for "Hydrochloric Hydrobromic Hydroiodic Nitric Chloric Sulfuric Perchloric."

That means _____ other acids are considered weak—they ________________________

Strong Bases
Strong and weak bases are like acids. What makes them strong or weak depends on
___________________________________________________________

Alkali Metal Hydroxides (Group 1)

LiOH, NaOH, KOH, RbOH, CsOH are all highly (100%) soluble and form OH-, so they
are all strong bases.

What is the [OH-] in 0.10 M NaOH?

(Alkaline Earth) Hydroxides (Group 2)

Mg(OH)2, Ba(OH)2 , Sr(OH)2 are designated as Strong Bases (even though Sr(OH)2
is the only soluble one. They dissociate to form 2 OH- s each:
Ba(OH)2(s)  Ba2+(aq) + 2OH-(aq)

What is the [OH-] in 0.10 M Ba(OH)2 ?

0.10 M ____M _____M

Ba(OH)2  Ba2+ + 2OH-

For A Strong Base

_________________________________________
Weak Base
A base which is ________________________ ionized in solution. If it’s not in
the strong bases list, then it must be a weak base.

E.g.)

-Consists of mostly _________________ molecules with a few _________________

ions.

Conjugates of Strong and Weak Acids and Bases

In HCl with water, label the acids and bases and their conjugates:

In reality, since HCl is such a strong acid, it’s conjugate base Cl- is so weak, it cannot
accept a proton from H3O+ so it just sits there.

So Conj. Bases of strong acids are ___________________ and said to be

________________________. it just sits there and ‘watches’

And we can generally say, the stronger the acid, the _______________ its conjugate base

The same goes for bases:

The stronger the base, the ____________________ its conjugate acid

EX:
HI is a ____________ acid. It’s conjugate base would be ____
HCN is a _________ acid. It’s conjugate base would be ______

Which conjugate base is stronger?

____ is because, ____ is a conjugate base from a strong acid so it is very weak, so weak
they call ___ a __________________

Concentration vs Acid Strength

Any acid (weak or strong) could have high or low concentration.

Weak & Strong Acids  refers to % ionization. Strong acids ionize around 100%.

Concentration  the __________ of acid dissolved ___________________. They can

be concentrated or dilute.

OK, let’s get the terms 'concentration' and 'strength' straight when referring to acids (or
bases)
Acidity is caused by the presence of hydrogen ions in the solution. If ANY acid has a
__________ concentration then this will consequently increase the hydrogen ion
concentration making the acid 'stronger'.
When chemists refer to ________________________ acids they are referring to the
degree with which the acid molecules break apart to give ions in aqueous solution
(dissociation).
__________________________________ refer to how ‘crowded’ the H+ ions are.
EX: Use the words ‘concentrated’, ‘dilute’, ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ to describe these
solutions:

________________________________________________________________________

Eg.) 10.0 M HCl  conc. and strong [H3O+] = 10.0 M

0.001 M HCl  dilute and strong [H3O+] = 0.001 M
10.0 M HF  conc. and weak [H3O+] = low
0.001 M HF  dilute and weak [H3O+] = very low
Concentration of
ions would
determine
conductivity

Electrical conductivity – the more ions (charges) in solution, the better electrical
conductor it is. In general that would mean ____________ acid/ bases are better electrical
conductors than weak acids because they ionize 100% and thus make more ions. BUT if
the weak acid was very _____________________ and the strong acid was very _______,
the answer may not be as simple.
Reactions with metals and carbonates—Strong acids react more quickly and violently
with carbonates and metals than weak acids
pH- Stronger acids also have lower pH values as they have a higher conc. of H+.
EX- Can a weak acid have a lower pH than a strong acid?