Question

bradley was working in the lab. he accidentally poured a container of concentrated hydrochloric acid into his container of distilled water. not thinking much of it, he continued with his work as if nothing happened. which of these would be the result of this laboratory accident? a the water will change to a bright pink color b the new solution would decrease in temperature. c the solution has now become a good conductor of electricity d hcl and water have the same chemical and physical properties, so nothing would happen.

Explanation:

• Option A: Hydrochloric acid (\(HCl\)) is a colorless acid. When it is dissolved in water (distilled water in this case), there is no indicator present (like phenolphthalein which would turn pink in basic conditions) to cause a color change to bright pink. So, this option is incorrect.
• Option B: The dissolution of \(HCl\) in water is an exothermic process (releases heat). So, the temperature of the solution should increase, not decrease. This option is incorrect.
• Option C: \(HCl\) is a strong acid. When it dissolves in water, it dissociates completely into \(H^{+}\) and \(Cl^{-}\) ions (\(HCl(aq)

ightarrow H^{+}(aq)+Cl^{-}(aq)\)). The presence of these mobile ions in the solution makes it a good conductor of electricity. This option is correct.

• Option D: \(HCl\) is a strong acid with properties like being corrosive, having a low pH. Water (\(H_2O\)) is a neutral compound with a pH of 7 (at \(25^{\circ}C\)). They have different chemical and physical properties. When \(HCl\) is added to water, a chemical process (dissociation) occurs, and the properties of the resulting solution (like conductivity, pH) are different from both pure \(HCl\) (in concentrated form) and pure water. So, this option is incorrect.

Answer:

C. The solution has now become a good conductor of electricity