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The flask shown here contains 10 mL of HCl and a few drops of phenolphthalein indicator
17. Acid and Base Equilibrium
pH of Strong Acids and Bases
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Calculate the concentration of H3O+ in a 0.01 M solution of HCl at 25°C, and classify the solution as acidic or basic.
A
1.0 x 10^-2 M, acidic
B
1.0 x 10^-2 M, basic
C
1.0 x 10^-12 M, acidic
D
1.0 x 10^-12 M, basic
Verified step by step guidance1
Understand that HCl is a strong acid, which means it completely dissociates in water. Therefore, the concentration of HCl will be equal to the concentration of H3O+ ions in the solution.
Write the dissociation equation for HCl:
Since the concentration of HCl is 0.01 M and it dissociates completely, the concentration of H3O+ ions will also be 0.01 M.
To classify the solution as acidic or basic, recall that a solution is acidic if the concentration of H3O+ is greater than 1.0 x 10^-7 M, which is the neutral concentration at 25°C.
Since the concentration of H3O+ is 0.01 M, which is greater than 1.0 x 10^-7 M, the solution is classified as acidic.
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