Ch.

17 Strength of acids and alkalis

Strength Extent of ionization or dissociation

A. Strong acids – undergo complete (or almost complete) ionization,

For a 0.1M solution of monobasic acids, the concentration of H+(aq) is also 0.1 M.

HCl (aq) à H+ (aq) + Cl- (aq)

HNO3(aq) à

The pH of 0.1 M H2SO4(aq) is not exactly 1 because its second dissociation is reversible / is not
complete, so that more than 0.1 M H+ is produced, so that the pH is not exactly 1, pH is smaller
than 1.

B. Weak acids – undergo incomplete (few % to 1X%) ionization,

For a 0.1 M acid solution, the concentration of H+ ~5 X 10-3 M

CH3COOH(aq) ∏ CH3COO-(aq) + H+(aq)

H2CO3 (aq) ∏ 2H+(aq) + CO32-(aq)

Overall equation
+ 2-
H2SO3(aq) ∏ 2H (aq) + SO3 (aq)

C6H5COOH(aq) ∏ C6H5COO-(aq) + H+(aq)

Benzoic acid benzoate

C. Strong alkalis

NaOH(aq) à

KOH(aq) à

D. Weak alkalis

NH3(aq) + H2O ∏ NH4+ (aq) + OH- (aq)

E. Concentration Vs Strength
6 M CH3COOH : concentrated solution of a weak acid.
0.01 M NaOH : diluted solution of a strong alkali
A. Methods to compare the strength of acids / alkalis
1. Strong acids
a. More vigorous reaction with metals / carbonates à measure the volume of gas
produced at particular intervals.
b. Lower pH à higher [H+(aq)]
c. Higher electrical conductivity à larger concentration / number of mobile ions in the
solution
d. chemical method :

2. Strong alkalis
a. Higher pH
More OH-(aq) in the solution, suppress the ionization of water molecules (i.e. shifting
the position of equilibrium H2O ⇌ H+ + OH- to the left) thus [H+(aq)] decreases.
b. Higher electrical conductivity à larger concentration / number of mobile ions in the
solution.
c. Chemical methods :

Page 16 [17] Q15

The strength of acids can be determined by adding lumps of magnesium carbonate to the acids.
a. Write an ionic equation for the reaction between acid and magnesium carbonate.
*b. Outline an experiment to determine the strengths of 0.1 M sulphuric acid and 0.1 M sulphurous acid
using lumps of magnesium carbonate.
c. State and explain the expected experimental results in (b).

2015 Paper 1B Q5*

Explain, with the aid of a chemical equation, why NH3(aq) is regarded as a weak alkali. Suggest how you
would show that NH3(aq) is a weaker alkali than NaOH(aq) through an experiment. [6]*