Does this mean that SO2 grabs an Oxygen out of every second OH(-) group present in the solution?

enter image source here

1 Answer
anor277
Feb 10, 2016

Probably not. It means that the sulfur oxides are the acid anhydrides of common acids.

Explanation:

So what is an acid anhydride? It is the acid LESS the elements of water, #H_2O#. The acid anhydride of sulfuric acid #H_2SO_4# is #SO_3(g)#, the acid anhydride of sulfurous acid, #H_2SO_3# is #SO_2(g)#. Of course, these are formalisms, but they do help us to rationalize reactivity as an acid-base phenomenon when the sulfur oxides are dissolved in water.

Related questions
See all questions in Reactions Between Ions in Solutions
Impact of this question
1587 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License