Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry · Syllabus 0620 · Acids, Bases and Salts
Strong Acid
What is Strong Acid?
An acid that is completely dissociated into ions in aqueous solution, so that every acid particle has released its hydrogen ion. Hydrochloric acid is the strong acid named by this syllabus, shown by HCl(aq) to H+(aq) + Cl-(aq), and complete dissociation is written with a single forward arrow.
This definition is part of the Acids, Bases and Salts chapter in Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry.
Common mistakes with Strong Acid
- “A strong acid is a concentrated acid, or a corrosive one.” Repair Strong describes the extent of dissociation in aqueous solution: complete for a strong acid, partial for a weak one. Concentrated describes how much acid there is per unit volume. They are independent, so a dilute strong acid and a concentrated weak acid both exist.