Equilibrium Arrow

[Meigan Wu 2E]

Do only reactions using weak acids and bases use an equilibrium arrow?

[Mona Lee 4L]

For reactions involving a strong acid and base, you can assume 100% protonation / deprotonation, and the single arrow represents the heavy skew towards products.

[MadisonB]

Moreover, you use two arrows for weak acids and bases because there will be some sort of equilibrium where not everything is disassociated.

[Aili Ye 4L]

Yes, only weak acids and bases use the equilibrium arrow. Strong acids and bases are considered 100% ionization in water thus only use one arrow

[Saman Andalib 1H]

As Dr. Lavelle depicted in class, the arrow in the chemical equation for any reaction involving a strong acid or a strong base is simplified as being one arrow because of the overwhelming skew it has to one side of the reaction. This does not mean that the reverse reaction is not occurring, but only that it is occurring at a much lesser rate.

[Vanadium Wang 4H]

The two way arrow is used for chemical reactions that are in equilibrium. However, when an arrow is only pointing in one direction, that indicates that the equilibrium is favoring either product or reactant.

[Simmi Diwanji 2B]

The equilibrium arrows should be used for all reactions in equilibrium, no matter if it is a strong or weak acid or base. However, if the reaction favors one side, the products or the reactants, than the lengths of the arrows become skewed in the respective directions.

[904914909]

If a rxn completely dissociates, ie a strong acid or base, then an equilibrium arrow is not used