What is the chemical difference between Hydrogen fluoride and hydrofluoric acid?
Hydrofluoric acid is a solution of hydrogen fluoride in water.
Hydrogen fluoride ionizes in aqueous solution in a similar fashion to other common acids:
HF + H2O → H3O+ + F−
When the concentration of HF approaches 100%, the acidity increases dramatically due to the following equilibrium:
2HF → H+ + FHF−
The FHF− anion is stabilized by the very strong hydrogen - fluorine hydrogen bond. Hydrofluoric acid is the only hydrohalic acid that is not considered a strong acid due to its low degree of ionization in aqueous solution.
Hydrogen fluoride ionizes in aqueous solution in a similar fashion to other common acids:
HF + H2O → H3O+ + F−
When the concentration of HF approaches 100%, the acidity increases dramatically due to the following equilibrium:
2HF → H+ + FHF−
The FHF− anion is stabilized by the very strong hydrogen - fluorine hydrogen bond. Hydrofluoric acid is the only hydrohalic acid that is not considered a strong acid due to its low degree of ionization in aqueous solution.