What make an acid or a base strong?

Answer 1

Metals are needed to make bases, and strong metals - by which I do not mean physically strong, but rather chemically strong, in that they have a particularly weak grip on their valence electrons - make strong bases. And non-metals are needed to make acids, and strong non-metals, meaning those which have a particularly strong attraction to the electrons of other elements - make strong acids. That is why fluorine, the strongest non-metal - in more technical terms, the element with the highest electronegativity - makes the strongest acid, hydrofluoric acid. And the elements with the lowest electronegativity make the strongest bases.

You may wonder how this works. An acid, dissolved in water, releases hydrogen ions, and a base releases hydroxide ions. Hydrogen will ionize most completely when its electron has been taken away by the element with the strongest attraction to electrons. And hydroxide radicals will also ionize most completely when they have taken away electrons from the elements that hold on to their electrons the most weakly. It's all about the hydrogen and the hydroxide. That's what makes things acidic or basic.

Answer 2

By disassociating almost 100% in solution. hydrochloric acid is a strong acid and you will get a strong current through a solution of HCl. Almost all the molecules of HCl in solution will be this way.

H +

Cl -

Answer 3

The strength of an acid or a base is determined by the extent to which it dissociates in water to form ions. Strong acids completely dissociate in water to form a high concentration of H+ ions, while strong bases completely dissociate to form a high concentration of OH- ions. Weak acids and bases only partially dissociate in water.