Under thermodynamic control, the influence of HCl, HClO 4 , HNO 3 , and H 2 SO 4 (at equimolar proton concentrations) is predicted to be identical (Figure ). Therefore, based on the significant differences observed in Figure , it can be concluded that each acid leads to a characteristically different inhibition time, following the order HClO 4 < HNO 3 < HCl < H 2 SO 4 , which will be further discussed below.