Highly charged metal ions are often strong acids. Now let me explain why it is so. Obviously, in aqueous solution we have water and oxygen of water is partially negative:

As a result water forms complex with the metal ions. For example, Fe+3 will form hexa coordinated complex as following: 

Thus, metal ions (with strong positive charge) in aqueous solution favors the following equilibrium. Below is an example: 

As a consequence the pH of the [Fe(H₂O)]³+ even goes down to 1.5

 

  

Transcribed Image Text:

100 H 100 H

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The reason for this is that the highly charged metal ions are strong electronwithdrawi... View the full answer