Really struggling on this part of the course, from my homework
How would you describe and give the results of an experiment to show that citric acid is a weaker acid than hydrochloride acid at the same concentration?
Why does citric acid behave as an acid? Using Arrhenius and Bronsted-Lowrys ideas
Really struggling on this part of the course, from my homework
How would you describe and give the results of an experiment to show that citric acid is a weaker acid than hydrochloride acid at the same concentration?
Why does citric acid behave as an acid? Using Arrhenius and Bronsted-Lowrys ideas
Both are Bronsted-Lowey acids as can donate protons (H+).
HCl is a stronger acid, this means that it completely breaks up into its ions (H+ and Cl-), whereas citric acid is a weak acid so is only partially broken up into its ions. This means there are less H+ in the solution of citric acid, less H+ means less collisions, so lower rate.
The experiment would perhaps involve reacting both acids with sodium carbonate and measuring the volume of gas given off every few seconds over perhaps a minute using a gas syringe. The HCl will release more gas than the citric acid per 10 seconds due to the increased rate.