Question

What are strong acids or bases are that ionize or dissociate in aqueous solution?

Answer 1

Strong acids and bases are those which have the tendency to easily dissociate into ions in aqueous solution.

Explanation:

Strong acids and strong bases are those species which dissociate/ionize essentially to completion upon being placed in aqueous solution.

Dissociation of a strong acid (hydrochloric for example):

`"HCl"(g) rarr "H"^+(aq) + "Cl"^(-)(aq)`

Dissociation of a strong base (sodium hydroxide for example):

`"NaOH"(s) rarr "Na"^+ (aq) + "OH"^(-) (aq)`

Substances that ionize completely (which include strong acids and bases) are called strong electrolytes, and further include basically all water-soluble ionic compounds.

For a list of the strong acids and bases, try this:

For sulfuric acid, `"H"_2"SO"_4`, only the first hydrogen ionizes completely (since it's a diprotic acid).