Question

What happens when hydrogen chloride gas is dissolved in water?

Answer 1

Hint: Hydrogen chloride exists as a colorless gas at room temperature. It can be dissolved in water as it is water soluble due to its polar nature. This is due to the electronegativity of chlorine which is more than hydrogen. It produces an important acid upon dissolution in water that is used in various chemical reactions and industrial applications.

Complete answer:
Hydrogen chloride is a gas that has hydrogen and chlorine. It is a polar gas due to the high electronegativity difference between hydrogen and chlorine. This polar nature makes it soluble in water. It is not directly dissolved in water as water will cause back suction, so it is dissolved through an inverted funnel method.
Hydrogen chloride gas when dissolved in water produces a strong monobasic acid called hydrochloric acid that has formula HCl. The acidity of any acid can be identified by the liberation of hydrogen ions or the formation of hydronium ions. So, the acidic nature of HCl is identified, as when dissolved in water, it produces hydronium ion and chloride ions as:
$HCl+{{H}_{2}}O\to {{H}_{3}}{{O}^{+}}+C{{l}^{-}}$
These hydronium ions make up the acidic character of any substance.
So, when hydrogen chloride gas is dissolved in water, it produces hydrochloric acid.

Note:
The hydrogen chloride gas can be detected as, when brought near water vapors this gas produces white fumes. So, in atmospheric moisture also, it produces white fumes that are of hydrochloric acid. HCl gas can be prepared by the warming of solid sodium chloride and sulfuric acid, the reaction will form HCl gas.