My assumption is yes, as the $\mathrm{pH}$ levels of each will be similar and thus they have the same acidity. Is this correct or am I missing something?
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3 Answers
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The pH is the same, yes, but the weak acid has undissociated molecules "in reserve", so to speak, and thus can neutralize a lot more of any base.
Indeed, this concept of weak acids and their conjugate bases having molecules "in reserve", reacting only when called upon, is the principle behind acid-base buffers.
answered Jun 9, 2016 at 10:21
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There are two main differences that can be observed, that Oscar's answer did not mention.
Firstly, when you add a strong base to the acid solution, the solution pH changes far more drastically when you had used a strong acid, simply because the amount of acid is very little to begin with.
Secondly, there is no buffer region for a strong acid solution. With a weak acid solution, at the rise in pH will slow down until a buffer region that lasts pretty much until nearly all the acid has been neutralized.
For instance a weak acid HA with disassociation constant $10^{-4.75}$ at concentration $0.1 \text{ mol} \text{ dm}^{-3}$ will have a pH of about $2.88$. A semi-strong acid with disassociation constant $10^{-2}$ will need to be at concentration about $0.0015 \text{ mol} \text{ dm}^{-3}$ to have the same pH. The pH of the solution as these two solutions are titrated against a strong base BOH can be easily proven to be the logarithm of the root of some cubic equation, which will have the following familiar shapes:
(This graph is when the added base is at concentration $0.2 \text{ mol} \text{ dm}^{-3}$. The blue curve is for the weak acid and the orange curve is for the semi-strong acid.)
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$\begingroup$ I didn't show the graph for a strong acid because it would be squashed too much to the left and there's really nothing to see. According to Wikipedia, what I called a semi-strong acid is still considered a weak acid, though on the strong side, but anyway it is strong enough for illustrative purposes. $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 10, 2016 at 8:13
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1$\begingroup$ I am guessing the red line represents your "semi-strong" acid and the blue line represents the weak acid? It's a good idea to add it in imo $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 10, 2016 at 12:39
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$\begingroup$ @orthocresol: Done. I had forgotten about that! $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 10, 2016 at 13:07
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The main difference between those two kinds of acid is the way that they dissociation occurs. A strong acid will rapidly dissociate in its ions with nearly a 100% of conversion p ex: HCl. Instead weak acids like acetic acid remain in equilibrium with its ions HAc <=> H+ + Ac- This means that in order to achieve a value of pH with a weak acid you need to consider that the acid will only partially increase the concentration of H+ ions so the final concentration will be given by the equilibrium constant (Ka) for this acid. Instead the pH given by a strong acid will be given simply by the concentration of the acid. So if you have HCl with a concentration of 10^-3 mol/L then the pH of that solution will be three. I hope this was helpful :)
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$\begingroup$ Just fyi, acetic acid is HOAc, AcH actually represents acetaldehyde $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 10, 2016 at 12:36