The statement "Even though sulfuric acid is a strong electrolyte, an aqueous solution of H₂SO₄ contains more HSO₄⁻ ions than SO₄²⁻ ions" is True. This can be explained by the fact that H₂SO₄ is classified as a diprotic acid, wherein only the first hydrogen fully ionizes.
Why?
H₂SO₄ is a diprotic acid, which indicates that it can donate two hydrogen ions to the solution. The dissociation reactions are represented below:
H₂SO₄ + H₂O → HSO₄⁻ + H₃O⁺
HSO₄⁻ + H₂O ⇄ SO₄²⁻ + H₃O⁺
As illustrated, the first dissociation goes to completion, meaning that all of the sulfuric acid initially present dissociates into HSO₄⁻ and H₃O⁺. However, the second dissociation does not go to completion, and it actually establishes an equilibrium with an acid dissociation constant (Ka) of 1.2×10⁻².
Thus, if the initial concentration of H₂SO₄ was 1M, the concentration of HSO₄⁻ will equal 1M, but the concentration of SO₄²⁻ will be significantly lower than 1M, as indicated by the dissociation constant.
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