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How are the relative strengths of acids ranked?
ABy how sour they taste in solution
BBy how much they raise the boiling point
CBy their mass per mole of substance
DBy the extent to which they ionize in water
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. By the extent to which they ionize in water
1. Acid strength is about how completely the acid comes apart in water.
2. So acids are ranked by the extent to which they ionize in aqueous solution.
3. That extent is captured numerically by the acid-ionization constant.
4. Molar mass and taste say nothing about how far the acid ionizes.
_Source: OpenStax Chemistry (CC BY 4.0), Ch 14 "Acid-Base Equilibria", section 14.3 Relative Strengths of Acids and Bases_
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