Identifying Strong Acids and Strong Bases

[Mark Tadros 3L]

Will we need to memorize all of the Strong Acids, and Strong bases for 14b? If not, what are the key ways to identify these strong acids and bases?

[Jonathan Shalom 3C]

Yes, we will need to memorize it. We also memorized it for 14A. Use this to help:

Acids: H2SO4 (or sulfuric acid), HI (hydroiodic acid), HBr (hydrobromic acid), HNO3 (nitric acid), HCl (hydrochloric acid) and HClO4 (perchloric acid). The mnemonic that I use to memorize these six strong acids is: So I Brought No Clean Clothes.

Bases: anything that has a group 1 or 2 cation.

[Lauren Frisancho 1H]

It is probably best to memorize all the strong acids and bases but an easy way to remember them is the strong bases are generally containing ions from periodic table group 1 and 2. As for strong acids, remembering that Cl and the polyatomic ions associated with it (HCLO4 & HCLO3) gives you a good start. Anything that is not a strong acid or base can be considered weak so once you have them memorized it should be easier!