system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why does an increase in the concentration of protons allow an acid to “eat through” substances?

What is happening at a molecular level that allows this to happen?
gpt
Naked protons really *really* want to find some electrons to steal. The substances acid eats through need these electrons to stay together, but the protons hold onto the electrons much more strongly than the substance can. So adding more protons takes more of the electrons binding the substance together, thus causing the acid to "eat through" things.