How does charge affect the strength of an acid?
1 Answer
The more charged ions produced, the stronger the acid. It all depends on how well the acid ionizes.
Explanation:
When an acid dissolves in water (to form an acidic solution), the hydrogen atoms present in all acids ionise. The extent of how much they ionize determines the strength. A solution in which all (or almost all) the atoms ionize will be a strong acid, whereas one where only a few ions ionize will be a weak acid. However, this is not the same as concentration, as it refers to the concentration of only the hydrogen ions e.g. if there are two acids both with the same concentration, the one with the most ionized hydrogen atoms will be the strongest (and therefore have the lowest pH).
So the more charged ions produced, the stronger the acid - and the lower the pH.
I hope this helps, let me know if you need anymore information - or something explained further:)
