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Question 51 of 58

Q.Which of the following is the strongest acid among all ?

(a) HBr
(b) HI
(c) HCl
(d) HF
Puducherry TnboardTamil Nadu HSC (DGE) Board 2024MCQ· 1mImportance★★★★★
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Acid strength of the hydrohalic acids increases down the group, HF<HCl<HBr<HIHF<HCl<HBr<HI, because bond dissociation energy (not electronegativity) governs how easily the H-X bond ionises in water, and H-I is the weakest bond.

Although fluorine is the most electronegative halogen, HF is actually the weakest of the four hydrohalic acids because the H-F bond is exceptionally strong and short (high bond dissociation energy), making it difficult to break/ionise; HF is also known to form strong intermolecular hydrogen bonds, further reducing its effective acidity in water (it is a weak acid, Ka≈6.6×10−4K_a\approx 6.6\times10^{-4}). As the halogen atom gets larger going down the group (F→\toCl→\toBr→\toI), the H-X bond length increases and its bond dissociation energy steadily decreases, so the bond ionises more readily in water. Consequently acid strength incre …

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