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Chemistry

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    $\begingroup$ The same argument could be made about the first drop of acid. $\endgroup$
    – Dmitry Grigoryev
    Commented Mar 26, 2018 at 8:10
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    $\begingroup$ @DmitryGrigoryev while I'm no expert chemist, I think that the first drop of acid in to water dilutes quickly, such that there is no longer a strong acid present, and the rate of reaction is slowed. The other way around, it takes many drops of water added to a strong acid to dilute it enough to slow the reaction, so all of that initial water added to the acid reacts strongly, producing a lot of heat quickly. I think the same amount of total heating occurs either way, just the speed is different. I think the first 2 paragraphs of Matt's answer says something similar, but with more science. $\endgroup$
    – BeowulfNode42
    Commented Jun 1, 2019 at 3:35
  • $\begingroup$ @DmitryGrigoryev Also, in general, the heat of reaction depends on the actual molar ratio. There is no a priori reason to expect a symmetry. I find this a satisfactory answer, tough it should be combined with those by permeakra and by Matt. $\endgroup$
    – Alchimista
    Commented Nov 11, 2020 at 19:10