Is phosphoric acid weak or strong?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking whether phosphoric acid is classified as a weak or strong acid, which involves understanding its dissociation in water and comparing its strength to other acids.
Answer
Weak acid.
The final answer is that phosphoric acid is a weak acid.
Answer for screen readers
The final answer is that phosphoric acid is a weak acid.
More Information
Phosphoric acid (H3PO4) is a weak acid because it does not completely dissociate in water. It has three ionizable hydrogen atoms, making it a triprotic acid, but each step of ionization does not go to completion.
Tips
A common mistake is to assume that because phosphoric acid can ionize in multiple steps, it is strong. However, full ionization in water is necessary to be classified as a strong acid.
Sources
- Is Phosphoric Acid A Strong Acid - Tutorocean - corp.tutorocean.com
- Is phosphoric acid a weak acid? - Quora - quora.com
- Phosphoric Acid - Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org
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