Anita added a drop each of diluted acetic acid and diluted hydrochloric acid on pH paper and compared the colors. Which of the following is the correct conclusion?
- pH of acetic acid is more than that of hydrochloric acid.
- pH of acetic acid is less than that of hydrochloric acid.
- Acetic acid dissociates completely in aqueous solution.
- Acetic acid is a strong acid
Answer:
- pH paper is a universal indicator that is used to determine the strength of acids or bases as a function of pH (power of hydrogen) .
- The strength of an acid/base is a measure of the amount of H+ ions the solution dissociates into when added to water.
- Acids give out more H+ ions as compared to bases.
- Similarly, stronger acids dissociate into a higher amount of H+ ions than weaker acids.
- Moreover, s trong acids have lower pH values than weak acids.
- We know that acetic acid is a weaker acid than HCl .
Therefore, the correct answer is (a) pH of acetic acid is more than that of hydrochloric acid.
