what happens if you pour water into an acid when dilluting?

Question

i just know you should pour the acid into wateer.. but why?

Answer 1

The issue is what gets splashed if there's
an accident. If you pour acid into water,
the splash will be mostly water, no problem.
If you pour water into acid, any splash
would be mostly acid, which could be a
problem.

Answer 2

lithium deuteride is essentially right. The process of dissolving acid in water is exothermic, and therefore creates heat. When you pour acid slowly into a sufficiently large volume of water, the heat is able to dissipate through the entire volume of water and doesn't create much of a problem.

But when you add water to the acid, the ENTIRE volume of acid is dissolving all at once, and into a relatively SMALL volume. The heat builds up quickly, and soon you have boiling, splashing acid and acidic fumes coming out of your beaker.

Answer 3

As the acid dissociates in the water, it creates a lot of heat, boiling the water.

If you pour acid into water, the water acts as a heat sink, and little happens.

However, if you pour water into concentrated acid, it is possible for the water to be heated so rapidly that it explodes into steam, throwing acid out of the beaker.