Strong acid
(in water)

A substance which dissociates quantitatively into H3O+ in water, e.g. hydrochloric acid .

HCl + H20 H3O+ + Cl-

Weak acid
(in water)

A substance which partially dissociates in water to give ions H3O+ , e.g. the balanced reaction for ethanoic (acetic) acid:

CH3COOH + H20 CH3COO- + H3O+

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