Binary acids form the second category of acids after oxy-acids. As opposed to oxy-acids, binary acids are only composed of two elements. The basic elements that form binary acids include hydrogen and a nonmetal compound. It is imperative to note that binary acids have two things in common; the fact that they both contain hydrogen atom and the presence of a nonmetal atom in their composition (Tro, 2015). A combination of a hydrogen atom and a nonmetal atom results in the formation of a binary acid. The concept is bets understood through examples. Some of the most common binary acids include; hydrochloric acid (HCl), hydrobromic acid (HBr), hydroiodic acid (HI) and hydrofluoric acid (HF). It is worth noting that the second elements contained in these examples; Chlorine (Cl), Iodine (I), Fluorine (F) and Bromine (Br), belong to the same category of elements-nonmetals.
There is a specific framework used in the naming of binary acids. The first section of the name is made of hydro then followed by the base name of the nonmetal followed by the suffix -ic and the word acid at the end. For instance, the binary acid formed from bromine is known as hydrobromic acid. The same principle is applied in the naming process of all binary acids. Binary acids exhibit different characteristics including their ability to dissociate in water forming hydrogen ions and anions (Tro, 2015). Also, most acids have the capacity to dissolve metals and sour taste. It is significant to note that strong acids such as hydrochloric acids have the potential to dissociate entirely in water to form hydrogen ions. On the other hand, weak acids, such as hydrofluoric acid, only dissociate less than ten percent to form ions. Several chemical factors determine the strength of binary acids: electronegativity, dissociation constant and bond strength. Some acids, such as hydrochloric acids, are stronger than others, like hydrobromic acid.
References
Tro, N. J. (2015). Introductory chemistry-5th Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall
