What Does 3 M HCl Stand For And How Does It Differ From 6 M HCl?

Question

What Does 3 M HCl Stand For And How Does It Differ From 6 M HCl?

2 Answers

Answer Question

Answer 1

M, or molarity is the term used to tell you how many Moles of atoms or molecules is in a solution. A mole is equal to 6.023 X 10²³ atoms or molecules. So a 1M solution of anything has 6.023 X 10²³ atoms or molecules of it in it, in this case, HCl. A 3M solution has 3 times this much.

[There is a reverse formula to find the maximum Molarity of say 100% HCL but I can't think of it just yet. Does this help.]

Answer 2

The capital M means Molar's which is the number of times Avagodro's number is involved in expressing amout's of a substance or concentration of a substance. In your question you mentioned 6M HCl, this is simply double the concentration of 3M HCl.

To provide a brief explanation of the term Molar, Avagodro's number is approximately 6.023 X 10²³ particles of a subsctance. Therefore 6M HCl is a relatively concentrated amount of hydrochloric acid.