What makes acids and bases strong or weak

The general rule is that salts with ions that are part of strong acids or bases will not hydrolyze, while salts with ions that are part of weak acids or bases will hydrolyze. Consider NaCl. The net result?

Will it hydrolyze? Because neither ion in NaCl affects the acidity or basicity of the solution, NaCl is an example of a neutral salt. Things change, however, when we consider a salt like NaC 2 H 3 O 2.

What about the acetate ion? Does this happen? Yes, it does. Because HC 2 H 3 O 2 is a weak acid. Any chance a weak acid has to form, it will the same with a weak base. Thus NaC 2 H 3 O 2 solutions are slightly basic, so such a salt is called a basic salt. There are also salts whose aqueous solutions are slightly acidic.

NH 4 Cl is an example. Recall from Section NH 4 Cl is an example of an acid salt. The molecule NH 3 is a weak base, and it will form when it can, just like a weak acid will form when it can. So there are two general rules: 1 If an ion derives from a strong acid or base, it will not affect the acidity of the solution. Some salts are composed of ions that come from both weak acids and weak bases. The overall effect on an aqueous solution depends on which ion exerts more influence on the overall acidity.

We will not consider such salts here. Learning Objectives Define a strong and a weak acid and base. Recognize an acid or a base as strong or weak. Determine if a salt produces an acidic or a basic solution. Strong and Weak Acids Except for their names and formulas, so far we have treated all acids as equals, especially in a chemical reaction.

Play next lesson or Practice this topic. Start now and get better math marks! Intro Lesson: a. Intro Lesson: b. Intro Lesson: c. Intro Lesson: d. Lesson: 1a. Lesson: 1b. Intro Learn Practice. Do better in math today Get Started Now. Introduction to acid-base theory 2. Conjugate acids and bases 3. Strong and weak acids and bases 4. Autoionization of water 5. Relative strengths of acids and bases 7. Mixing strong acids and bases 9.

Hydrolysis Acid-base titration Titration curves Buffer solutions Back to Course Index. Don't just watch, practice makes perfect. Lessons Notes: In this lesson, we will learn: To understand the difference between acid and base strength and concentration.

To understand how degree of dissociation leads to varying acid and base strength. Recall that: Concentration measures the amount of substance in a sample, compared to the amount of solvent e. This can be changed easily: add more solvent to decrease concentration or add more solute to increase concentration. Acid and base strength acidity or basicity measures dissociation , where the degree of dissociation is how much a chemical compound splits from the complete compound e.

HCl into its ions or components e.