Strong acid

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A strong acid is an acid which completely dissociates (gives up its protons) in water. Some example strong acids include hydrochloric acid (HCl) and hydrobromic acid (HBr). Sulfuric acid is also a strong acid but it is a special case; it is diprotic, but only the first hydrogen completely dissociates in water.

The conjugate base for a strong acid is a weak base. In many cases the conjugate base simply acts as a spectator ion in a reaction. The highly reactive nature of such acids make them useful in the etching of materials, particularly metals. Strong acids are also used in tanning.