Is HBr a strong acid?

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Is HBr a strong acid?

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Answer 1 · 2018-06-05T12:32:37

Yes!

Explanation:

In the Bronsted-Lowry definition, an acid is anything which donates $H^{+}$ $H^+$ ions in an aqueous solution.

$H B r$ $HBr$ would be considered an acid, because it does dissociate in aqueous solutions in the following dissociation reaction:

$H B r (g) ⇌ H^{+} (a q) + B r^{-} (a q)$ $HBr(g) rightleftharpoons H^+(aq) + Br^(-)(aq)$

Now, a strong acid is an acid which almost completely dissociates in aqueous solutions.

$H B r$ $HBr$ fulfils this, because it very readily dissociates—here's why.

$H B r$ $HBr$ is a hydrohalic acid, or an acid with the formula $H X$ $HX$ where $X$ $X$ is a halogen.
In all hydrohalic acids except for $H F$ $HF$ , the bond between $H$ $H$ and $X$ $X$ is very weak because halogens tend to:

have a high number of energy levels, increasing the size of the halogen. This decreases attraction between $H$ $H$ and $X$ $X$ .
Be very electronegative, causing the $H - X$ $H-X$ bond to be very polar.

These two factors cause hydrogen to be very easily "snapped off" of $H X$ $HX$ , causing it to dissociate into $H^{+}$ $H^+$ and $X^{-}$ $X^-$ .

CCCBDB listing of experimental data

This is also true for $H B r$ $HBr$ —because bromine is so electronegative and large, hydrogen will very easily dissociate from $H B r$ $HBr$ , causing $H B r$ $HBr$ to readily dissociate into $H^{+}$ $H^+$ and $B r^{-}$ $Br^-$ .

Dissociation happens so readily that we can say $H B r$ $HBr$ almost completely dissociates, fulfilling the criteria for a strong acid.

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Is HBr a strong acid?

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