I want to know what is more powerful, as far as acids, than perchloric acid and hydrofluoric (sp?) acid. Not including acids in a gaseous state. Thanks!
Do you want this in terms of maximum reasonably-attainable pH? Or in terms of chemical reactivity (as in, ability to eat almost anything) ?
Both actually.
It’s hard to answer that. What do you mean my “most powerful acid”?
HF is actually a weak acid (because its dissociation is incomplete), but it will dissolve glass.
If by powerful, you mean “corrosive” then HF is a good choice.
HCl is (nearly) 100% dissociated, which is the definition of a strong acid. H2SO4 (sulfuric) and HNO3 (nitric) are also more completely dissociated than HF. Perchloric is the most strongly dissociated though, so your original choice is good.
Then, of course, there are the superacids, such as boric trifluoride in hydrogen fluoride (BF3/HF). These can be billions of times stronger than H2SO4, and have pH values of -10 or lower.
They are highly corrosive and difficult to work with. They are also pretty exotic and hard to get ahold of, so your original choices (HF and perchloric) are probably as good as you’'re likely to run across.
Also not including aqua reagent unless included in wet ashing solvent