strength of acids/ bases

[Feng Ming Li 2K]

How do you determine if it is a strong acid or base or if it is a weak acid or base? Do you just memorize the strength from a chart?

Thanks

[Rachel Lipman]

I would memorize the 6 strong acids in the course reader, there really are not many more beyond those. (hydrochloric acid - HCl, hydrobromic acid - HBr, hydroiodic acid - HI, sulfuric acid - H2SO4, nitric acid - HNO3, perchloric acid - HClO4).

[Kevin Wright]

It would be a good idea to memorize the common strong acids and bases since there aren't that many as well as some of the important weak ones. One trick to figuring out that an acid is weak is the presence of a carboxyl group (COOH) in a molecule. Most strong bases consist of a metal and an oxide or hydroxide group. Many bases that are anions are weak (excluding HS04- and H2PO4- which are acidic). Bases containing an ammine group are also weak

[Saira Shahid 3K]

Become familiar with the chart on page 151 in the course reader. I think you just have to know these common acids and bases. If it's an uncommon one, the problem will probably state whether is a strong or weak acid/base.