Question

The statement "Although sulfuric acid is a strong electrolyte, an aqueous solution of H2SO4 contains more HSO4− ions than SO42− ions" is The statement "Although sulfuric acid is a strong electrolyte, an aqueous solution of H 2 S O 4 contains more H S O 4 − ions than S O 4 2 − ions" is blank. This is best explained by the fact that H 2 S O 4 blank.. This is best explained by the fact that H2SO4 The statement "Although sulfuric acid is a strong electrolyte, an aqueous solution of H 2 S O 4 contains more H S O 4 − ions than S O 4 2 − ions" is blank. This is best explained by the fact that H 2 S O 4 blank..

Answer 1

The statement "Although sulfuric acid is a strong electrolyte, an aqueous solution of H₂SO₄ contains more HSO₄⁻ ions than SO₄²⁻ ions is True. This is best explained by the fact that H₂SO₄ is a diprotic acid where only the first hydrogen completely ionizes.

Why?

H₂SO₄ is a diprotic acid. That means that it has two hydrogen ions to give to the solution. The two dissociation reactions are shown below:

H₂SO₄ + H₂O → HSO₄⁻ + H₃O⁺

HSO₄⁻ + H₂O ⇄ SO₄²⁻ + H₃O⁺

As the arrows show, the first dissociation is complete, meaning that all the sulfuric acid that is present initially is dissociated into HSO₄⁻ and H₃O⁺. However, the second dissociation is incomplete, and it's actually an equilibrium with an acid constant  (Ka)of 1.2×10⁻².

That means that if the initial concentration of H₂SO₄ was 1M, the concentration of HSO₄⁻ is going to be 1M as well, but the concentration of SO₄²⁻ is going to be much less than 1M, according to the dissociation constant.

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