Consider 2 separate solutions, one of a weak acid HA and one of HCL. Assume that you started with 10 molecules of each.
Draw a picture of what each solution looks like at equilibrium.
Ok to my very limited knowledge on this subject so far, a weak acid at equilibrium should look like this: HA + H2O <--> H3O + A
a strong acid at equilibrium should look like this: HCL + H2O --> H3O + Cl
What i need to know is 1, am i even on the right track here and 2, how would i go about drawing a picture? the question seems very vague.
You are on the right track! The equations you provided represent the dissociation of the weak acid HA and the strong acid HCl in water. However, the equilibrium expressions you wrote can be revised slightly for clarity:
Weak acid dissociation: HA + H2O ⇌ H3O+ + A-
Strong acid dissociation: HCl + H2O → H3O+ + Cl-
To draw a picture representing the solutions at equilibrium, you can imagine illustrating a container or beaker filled with water and labeled as the respective solutions. Within each solution, you can represent the molecules of acid and water, showing the dissociation process.
For the weak acid HA solution, you would draw some HA molecules and water molecules within the container. Then, you can show the dissociation of HA into H3O+ and A- by representing the formation of H3O+ and A- molecules from some of the HA molecules, while leaving some intact HA molecules.
For the strong acid HCl solution, you would also draw HCl molecules and water molecules within the container. However, since strong acids dissociate completely in water, you would show all of the HCl molecules breaking apart into H3O+ and Cl- ions.
Overall, the picture should represent a mixture of intact acid molecules and dissociation products in each solution, with some molecules remaining undissociated and others dissociated into their respective ions.
You are definitely on the right track! However, I'll help clarify a few things.
First, the equilibrium expression for a generic weak acid HA can be written as follows:
HA + H2O ⇌ H3O+ + A-
This equation shows that HA reacts with water to form hydronium ions (H3O+) and the conjugate base A-. The double-headed arrow indicates that the reaction is reversible, meaning that the forward and reverse reactions are occurring simultaneously.
On the other hand, hydrochloric acid (HCl), being a strong acid, fully dissociates in water, and the equilibrium expression would appear as follows:
HCl + H2O → H3O+ + Cl-
In this equation, there is only a single arrow pointing from left to right, indicating that the reaction proceeds completely in the forward direction.
To draw a picture of each solution at equilibrium, you can imagine a container or beaker representing the solution. In the case of the weak acid HA, you can draw the HA molecules (represented by H with a single bond to A) and the H3O+ ions (represented by H with a bond to an oxygen atom and a positive charge) randomly dispersed in the solution. Similarly, you can depict A- ions (represented by A with a negative charge) also randomly distributed. Note that the relative concentration of each species would depend on the particular equilibrium constant of the reaction.
For the strong acid HCl, you can simply draw the H3O+ ions (represented by H with a bond to an oxygen atom and a positive charge) and Cl- ions (represented by Cl with a negative charge) randomly distributed in the solution. Since HCl is a strong acid and fully dissociates, the concentration of HCl molecules is negligible compared to the concentration of H3O+ and Cl-.