Question

Compare and contrast an acid to an ionic compound. How are they similar? How are they different? Give examples to justify your response.

Answer 1

Acids:

Acids are covalently bonded molecules which generally dissociate when added to water. They thus release H⁺ ions into the solution due to high polarity in the bond between hydrogen atom and a highly electronegative atom and decrease the pH of the solution to which they are added.

Example: HCl

HCl when dissolved in water gets dissociated into H⁺ and Cl- when put in water though the atoms are covalently bonded actually.

Ionic compounds:

Ionic compounds are generally molecules which are bonded by ionic bbond. They dissociate into the constitue ions when dissolved in a solvent. The change in pH caused by them depends on the strength of acid and base from which they are formed.

Example: NaCl

NaCl when dissolved in water gets dissociated into Na⁺ and Cl-. The ions are present as Na+and Cl- even in solid state but have strong attractive forces that keep them together.

Acids and Ionic compounds are similar in the way in which they get dissociated in water but are different in the way in which they are bonded as molecules.