Dissociate

[Tianna Nguyen 1I]

Hi, what does it mean when an acid completely or partially dissociates?

[Tomas Burgess 3F]

Hi! When an acid completely dissociates, every molecule of the acid in the solution loses a proton (H+), making the solution acidic. The equation for a completely dissociated acid is: HA ---> H+ + A-, where the acid completely splits up into H+ and its anion. Only strong acids and bases are able to dissociate completely. When an acid partially dissociates, this means that in an aqueous solution, both the acid and its ions are present in the solution, as not all of the acid splits up into H+ and A-. They exist in equilibrium, and this can be modeled by the equation HA + H20 <---> A- + H3O+ (where H3O+ is the same as H+). I hope this helps!

[Emily Widjaja 3A]

Fully dissociates means that in a solution, a strong acid or base only exist as its constituent ions

[Emily Wan 1l]

Complete dissociation refers to when an acid fully ionizes in aqueous solution. Strong acids are assumed to fully dissociate in water, while weak acids do not fully dissociate.