Acid Strengths | DAT

Factors Affecting Acid Strength o Making the acid

 Three factors determine the stronger
strength of an acid:  i.e. Cl- is the conjugate
1. The strength of the bond base of HCl, and it is very
holding the acidic proton to stable
the rest of the molecule o So HCl is a strong
 The stronger the bond, acid
the harder it will be to
break it Hydrogen Halide Acidity
o Making the acid  Take a look at the relative bond
weaker strengths and polarities of the
hydrogen halides

Bond Strength
The strength of the bond between hydrogen and
chlorine helps determine how easily the proton
will be donated.

2. The polarity of the bond Polarity & Bond Strengths of Hydrogen

Halides
holding the acidic proton to
the rest of the molecule
 Recall that:
 A more polar bond will o More polar = more acidic
be more water-soluble, o Stronger bond = less
making it easier to break acidic
o Making the acid
 Although HF has the most polar
stronger
bond of the hydrogen halides, it
is not the more acidic
o Its immense bond
strength supersedes
polarity, making the acid
very weak
Bond Polarity
The polarity of the bond between hydrogen and Oxyacid Acidity
chlorine also helps determine its acidity. A more  To exemplify how conjugate
polar bond will be more water-soluble, making stability determines an acid’s
the molecule more acidic. strength, look at the oxyacids:
3. The stability of the conjugate
base
 If the conjugate base is
very stable, the acid will
“want” to donate its
proton to achieve that
stable state
The Oxyacids

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 Acid Strengths | DAT

 When each oxyacid donates its Strong Acids Strong Bases

proton, the molecule will take on HI NaOH
a negative charge HBr KOH
HCl NH2-
HNO3 H-
HClO4 Ca(OH)2
HClO3 Na2O
H2SO4 CaO

Oxyacid Conjugate Bases

When each oxyacid donates a proton, they
become their conjugate base. Each base has a
negative charge.

 The bases with more oxygens

will have more area over which
that negative charge can be
dispersed
o So the bases with more
oxygens will be more
stable, and their conjugate
acids will be more acidic

Hydride
 A hydride is a compound that
contains a hydride anion (H-)
o i.e. NaH is made up of
Na+ and H-
 Hydrides typically form when
hydrogen bonds to metals
 The hydride anion is extremely
basic
o Its negative charge allows
it to act as a proton
acceptor

Strong Acids and Bases

 It’s a good idea to be familiar
with a few strong acids and bases

© 2019 J Co Review, Inc., Accessed by Guest on 07-14-2019