Q&A for How to Dilute an Acid

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How do you dilute acids safely?

Chris Hasegawa, PhD
Retired Science Professor & Dean
Dr. Chris Hasegawa was a Science Professor and the Dean at California State University Monterey Bay. Dr. Hasegawa specializes in teaching complex scientific concepts to students. He holds a BS in Biochemistry, a Master’s in Education, and his teaching credential from The University of California, Davis. He earned his PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from The University of Oregon. Before becoming a professor, Dr. Hasegawa conducted biochemical research in Neuropharmacology at the National Institute of Health. He also taught physical and life sciences and served as a teacher and administrator at public schools in California, Oregon, and Arizona.

Chris Hasegawa, PhD

Retired Science Professor & Dean

Expert Answer

Double-check your calculations and measurements before you dilute anything.

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Question

When I dilute acid should I add acid to water or water to acid?

Community Answer

You should always add acid to water, otherwise you will end up with an extremely exothermic reaction that can even boil the water and cause violent bumping that can result in acid splashing all over the place.

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Is it possible to measure acid in ppm?

Jomari Cabato

Community Answer

To convert from molarity to ppm, first determine the molar mass of a substance. For instance, chloride has a molar mass of 35.5. A solution with 1 M concentration would have 35.5 g of chloride per 1 L of solution.

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Question

What is the acetic acid formula?

Community Answer

The acetic acid, also known as ethanoic acid, has the formula C2H4O2, or CH3COOH.

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Why is dilution important?

Community Answer

Dilution can help save chemicals! So it can be cheaper. Also, some experiments do not require such concentrated solutions. If we want to see titration happen, using diluted acids would be better than using concentrated acids. For example, during titration, we can see the change of acidity happen gradually and find a more exact amount needed to make the solution neutral. (You should dilute the alkali too.) Moreover, students who are just learning to experiment with acids for the first time may not be very careful. Undiluted acids may hurt them as they may accidentally spill the acid and burn themselves.

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What does 0.1M of a solution mean?

Hannah

Community Answer

The M stands for molar concentration or molarity, and is given in mol/L. In this case it means there are 0.1 moles of a certain substance in 1 liter of the solution.

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When diluting an acid, what causes an explosion when you pour acid into water instead of the other way around?

Community Answer

You probably poured too much acid into a small amount of water at a time, or the water was simply hot or lukewarm. This can result in an exothermic reaction. Also, if the acid you had was oleum (supersaturated sulphuric acid), then adding it to any quantity of water will cause an explosion, no matter the amount of water.

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