Question: Do You Add Sulfuric Acid to Water or Water to Sulfuric Acid?
When
you mix concentrated sulfuric acid and water, you pour the acid into a
larger volume of water. Mixing the chemicals the other way can present a
lab safety hazard.
Answer: Whether you add acid to the
water or water to the acid is one of those things I know it's important
to remember, but always have to puzzle out. Sulfuric acid (H2SO4)
reacts very vigorously with water, in a highly exothermic reaction. If
you add water to concentrated sulfuric acid, it can boil and spit and
you may get a nasty acid burn. If you spill some sulfuric acid on your
skin, you want to wash it off with copious amounts of running cold water
as soon as possible. Water is less dense than sulfuric acid, so if you
pour water on the acid, the reaction occurs on top of the liquid. If you
add the acid to the water, it sinks and any wild and crazy reactions
have to get through the water or beaker to get to you. How do you
remember this? Here are some mnemonics:
- AA - Add Acid
- Acid to Water, like A&W Root Beer
- Always do things as you oughta, add the acid to the water. (um... no... those words don't rhyme in most places.)
- Drop acid, not water. (Don't do that either, ok?)
- If you think your life's too placid, add the water to the acid.
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