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Topic: Acetic acid vs. Hydrochloric acid  (Read 12681 times)

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Offline hiswifetheirmom

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Acetic acid vs. Hydrochloric acid
« on: November 08, 2009, 11:32:37 AM »
Tell why vinegar (0.8M acetic acid) reacts much more slowly with zinc and marble chips than 0.8M hydrochloric acid, even though both acids have about the same total concentrations?

Offline cth

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Re: Acetic acid vs. Hydrochloric acid
« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2009, 12:28:49 PM »
Because HCl is a strong acid, while acetic acid is a weak acid.

Strong acid are completely deprotonated in water: you find Cl- and H3O+ floating around in solution, but no undissociated HCl.

Weak acids are not completely deprotonated in water: you have an equilibrium between CH3CO2H and CH3CO2-. Therefore, some part of the acetic acid can't react with zinc. The reaction is slower.

Offline tinapratiwi

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Re: Acetic acid vs. Hydrochloric acid
« Reply #2 on: November 12, 2009, 04:31:29 AM »
yes thats true cth....
I agree with you... :D

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