Relative strength of acids and Bases
In practice Ka is used to define the strength only of those acids that are weaker than H3O+ and Kb is used to define the strength of only those bases that are weaker than OH-. For two weak acids HA1 and HA2 of ionisation constant Ka1 and Ka2 respectively at the same concentration then we can say that
![1689_acid strength.png](https://www.expertsmind.com/../CMSImages/1689_acid strength.png)
Similarly, relative strengths of any two weak bases at the same concentration are given by the ratio of the square-roots of their dissociation constants which means
![1893_base strength.png](https://www.expertsmind.com/../CMSImages/1893_base strength.png)
(1) The relative strength of the Inorganic acids
(i) Hydrides
(a) The acidic strength increases with increase in the electronegativity of the element directly attached with hydrogen.
H-F>H-OH>H-NH2>H-CH3>HCl>H2S>PH3>SiH4
(b) The acidic strength increases with increase in atomic size,
HF<HCl<HBr<HI;H2O<H2S<H2Se<H2Te
(ii) Oxyacids
(a) Among oxyacids of the same type formed by the different elements, acidic nature increases with the increasing electronegativity,
HOI < HOBr < HOCl; HIO4 < HBrO4 < HClO4
(b) In the oxyacids of same element, acidic nature increases with the increase in its oxidation number
![1047_acid strength1.png](https://www.expertsmind.com/../CMSImages/1047_acid strength1.png)
(c) The strength of the oxyacids increases from left to right across the period
![53_acid strength2.png](https://www.expertsmind.com/../CMSImages/53_acid strength2.png)
(d) For the identical oxidation state and configuration of the elements, acid strength decreases with the increase in size of atom.
(2) Relative strength of organic acids
(i) The compound is said to be acidic in nature, if the conjugate base of it can stabilize through the process of resonance. Therefore phenol is acidic while ethanol is neutral because the conjugate base of phenol (C6H5O-) can be stabilized through the resonance while that of alcohol (C6H5O-) cannot.
(ii) Hydrogen atom attached to sp-hybridized carbon is more acidic than that on sp2 hybridized carbon which in turn is more acidic than that on sp3 hybridized carbon.
Thus, ![828_acid strength4.png](https://www.expertsmind.com/../CMSImages/828_acid strength4.png)
(3) The Relative strength of the Inorganic bases
(i) The basicity of a compound decreases with increase in electronegativity of the atom holding the electron pair, ![564_acid strength5.png](https://www.expertsmind.com/../CMSImages/564_acid strength5.png)
(ii) The larger size of the atom holding unshared electrons, the lesser will be the availability of electrons.
![664_acid strength6.png](https://www.expertsmind.com/../CMSImages/664_acid strength6.png)
(iii) Presence of negative charge on the atom holding the electron pair increases basicity, while presence of positive charge on the atom holding the electron pair decreases the basicity. OH- > H2O > H3O+
(iv) Among the alkali and alkaline earth hydroxides (oxides) basic nature increases with the electropositivity
![999_acid strength7.png](https://www.expertsmind.com/../CMSImages/999_acid strength7.png)
CsOH is the strongest known base
(v) On moving down the group; the basic nature decreases with the size of the central atom due to decrease in ability to donate the lone pair.
(4) Relative strength of Organic bases
(i) The higher electron density on nitrogen, more will be the basic character of amine.
(ii) A compound is basic in the nature, if the conjugate acid of it can be stabilized through the resonance. Hence guanidine
is as strong alkali as metal hydroxides because its conjugate acid
is very much stabilised through resonance.
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