does that definition tell you if your dealing with a weak or strong acid??
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Definitions are very important in chemistry - many problems arise because of not knowing or using definitions correctly :
Definition of concentration: Concentration is the amount of substance dissolved in a volume of solvent . Wikipedia uses this definition: In chemistry, concentration is the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture.
Chemists usually use molarity as the measure of concentration .
Molarity is the number of moles of a substance dissolved in a litre of solution.
If you dissolve 1.0 mol of salt NaCl in water and adjust the final volume to exactly 1.00L , you have a 1.0mol/litre or 1.0molar solution . This is abbreviated to 1.0M NaCl solution.
Likewise , if you dissolve 0.5 mol of glucose in 1.0L of solution you have a 0.5M solution of glucose.
If you dissolve 0.01 mol of KI in 100mL (= 0.1L) of solution you have a 0.1M solution of KI
NOTE: Nowhere in the above definition has the number of ions been mentioned .
What is meant by the strength of an acid or base?
The strength of an acid or base is a measure of the degree to which the acid or base produced ions in solution .
HCl or hydrochloric acid is a strong acid . This means that it will dissociate completely into its ions.
HCl (aq) → H+(aq) + Cl-(aq)
A 1.0M solution of HCl will produce a 1.0M solution of H+ ions and a 1.0M solution of Cl- ions.
A 0.0001M solution of HCl will produce a 0.0001M solution of H+ ions and a 0.0001M solution of Cl- ions.
Acetic acid is a weak acid: It only partially dissociates into ions. Most of the CH3COOH in solution exists as un-ionised acid . The concentration of H+ ions and CH3COO- ions is very low.
A 1.0M solution of CH3COOH will produce a very much lower concentration of H+ ions and CH3COO- ions in solution. The acid remains to a large extent un-ionised.
The concentration , expressed as a molarity tells you nothing about the strength of the acid. From the molarity you are unable to state whether the acid is strong or weak .
Definition of concentration: Concentration is the amount of substance dissolved in a volume of solvent . Wikipedia uses this definition: In chemistry, concentration is the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture.
Chemists usually use molarity as the measure of concentration .
Molarity is the number of moles of a substance dissolved in a litre of solution.
If you dissolve 1.0 mol of salt NaCl in water and adjust the final volume to exactly 1.00L , you have a 1.0mol/litre or 1.0molar solution . This is abbreviated to 1.0M NaCl solution.
Likewise , if you dissolve 0.5 mol of glucose in 1.0L of solution you have a 0.5M solution of glucose.
If you dissolve 0.01 mol of KI in 100mL (= 0.1L) of solution you have a 0.1M solution of KI
NOTE: Nowhere in the above definition has the number of ions been mentioned .
What is meant by the strength of an acid or base?
The strength of an acid or base is a measure of the degree to which the acid or base produced ions in solution .
HCl or hydrochloric acid is a strong acid . This means that it will dissociate completely into its ions.
HCl (aq) → H+(aq) + Cl-(aq)
A 1.0M solution of HCl will produce a 1.0M solution of H+ ions and a 1.0M solution of Cl- ions.
A 0.0001M solution of HCl will produce a 0.0001M solution of H+ ions and a 0.0001M solution of Cl- ions.
Acetic acid is a weak acid: It only partially dissociates into ions. Most of the CH3COOH in solution exists as un-ionised acid . The concentration of H+ ions and CH3COO- ions is very low.
A 1.0M solution of CH3COOH will produce a very much lower concentration of H+ ions and CH3COO- ions in solution. The acid remains to a large extent un-ionised.
The concentration , expressed as a molarity tells you nothing about the strength of the acid. From the molarity you are unable to state whether the acid is strong or weak .