What does dilute acid mean

For example, ethanoic acid is a weak acid. It is only partially ionised to form hydrogen ions and ethanoate ions:. The pH of a solution is a measure of its concentration of hydrogen ions:.

This means that, for a given concentration in aqueous solution, the stronger an acid, the lower the pH. If the hydrogen ion concentration in a solution increases by a factor of 10, the pH of the solution decreases by 1 unit.

The higher the concentration of OH - ions in an alkaline solution, the higher the pH. Predict its pH when it is diluted to 0. The hydrogen ion concentration decreases by a factor of 10, so the pH increases by 1 from 1. They are much more dangerous than dilute acids. Concentrated acids are corrosive. They can attack metals and destroy skin if spilled.

Their bottles are labelled with a warning symbol to show that they are corrosive. Laboratory acids are far too dangerous to taste, but you will have swallowed some dilute weak acids. The terms dilute and concentrated are used to describe the concentration of the acid in water. We could have a dilute solution say 0. By contrast, when we refer to strong versus weak liquids in the everyday sense, we are referring to the concentration of the solution.

It is important to remember this difference and understand that the scientific context can change the meaning of familiar words. Draw out molecular-level pictures of a dilute solution of a strong acid and a weak acid.