Arrange the following acid in increasing order of strengths #(HCO_3 )^- , (H_3 O )^+ , (HSO_4) ^ - , HSO_3 F#?
1 Answer
Explanation:
We cannot consider the hydronium ion,
I am breaking my own rule, and not looking at metrics, which I should properly do, but here we can use induction.
The strength of an acid relates to how far the following equilibrium lies to the right:
For stronger acids, the equilibrium lies further to the right. Again this reaction illustrates my reluctance to consider the acidity of
We have a choice between anions and neutral species, and, reasonably, the anions, bicarbonate, and bisulfate should be weaker acids than the neutral species.
So the strongest acid is fluorosulfonic acid,