Hi
I was reading my chemistry book and a question came to my mind. Why doesnt weak acids fully dissolve in water? If one molecule can dissolve why don´t all of them act the same way? Also with bases. For example why doesnt all the NH3 molecules attach with OH- ions in water?
Strong and weak acids
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When looking at strong & weak acids you need to realize something:
They can dissolve into water, and float around as a molecule (doesn't disassociate). So there in water dissolved, but because the H+ ion hasn't split from the rest of the molecule it doesn't make acid / or OH- for base
Strong acids both dissolve & dissociate (aka the H+ forms an ion & takes a hike away from the rest of the molecule) / or OH- for base
Generally:
Strong acid = dissociation Greater than 99%
Weak acid = dissociation Less than 5%
as for bases it's generally the same,
There is very very few in between
They can dissolve into water, and float around as a molecule (doesn't disassociate). So there in water dissolved, but because the H+ ion hasn't split from the rest of the molecule it doesn't make acid / or OH- for base
Strong acids both dissolve & dissociate (aka the H+ forms an ion & takes a hike away from the rest of the molecule) / or OH- for base
Generally:
Strong acid = dissociation Greater than 99%
Weak acid = dissociation Less than 5%
as for bases it's generally the same,
There is very very few in between