How many strong acids are there

Dihydrogen phosphate ion. Nitrous acid. HNO 2. Nitrite ion. Hydrofluoric acid. Fluoride ion. Methanoic acid. HCO 2 H. HCO 2 -. Methanoate ion. Benzoic acid. Benzoate ion. Oxalate ion. Ethanoic acid. CH 3 COO. Ethanoate acetate ion. Carbonic acid. CO 3 HCO 3 -. Hydrogen carbonate ion. Hydrosulfuric acid. Hydrogen sulfide ion. Questions What is the pH of a solution containing 0.

What is the pH of a solution containing 0. Give 3 significant figures. Exactly 1. Which of the following is usually referred to as strong acid in water solution? Solutions Answer 2 Hint Answer 1. This solution contains 1. All others are weak acids. Why is this important? It has to do with chemical reactions. Here is the ionization reaction of the strong acid, hydrochloric acid:. Notice how there is a hydrogen ion in the product.

All of the reactant HCl has been ionized during the reaction. Also notice that the reaction only proceeds in one direction.

Once the strong acid has been ionized, the reaction stops and is not reversible. Notice here that the reaction arrow points in both directions. Weak acids only slightly disassociate, and their hydrogen ions will continue to move between being part of the weak acid and part of the water.

This reaction is reversible and will reverse itself many times, reforming the acid. In the next section, we list all 7 strong acids, and we encourage you to memorize them. Strong acids will have large values for K a , while weak acids will have very small values for K a. There are only 7 strong acids; all other acids are weak. They are listed below by name and chemical composition.

These terms are frequently misused and incorrectly substituted for each other! The concentration of an acid refers to how much water or solvent is in it. A concentrated acid has a small amount of water, while a diluted acid has a large amount of water in it.

You can have a strong acid that is diluted as well as a weak acid that is concentrated. Corrosiveness refers to how much a substance damages a surface it touches.

Living tissue such as skin, eyes, etc. The two terms measure different, unrelated things. Some strong acids are very corrosive, such as hydrochloric acid which can eat through stainless steel and sulfuric acid which is commonly used as a drain cleaner.