HomeWHICHWhich Of The Following Are Weak Acids

Which Of The Following Are Weak Acids

Solution

Assume the label concentration as C and x mole ionized, then the ionization and the equilibrium concentrations can be represented by the ICE table below.

ICE (ce{CH3COOH}) (rightleftharpoons) (ce{CH_3COO^-}) (ce{H+}) Initial C 0 0 Change -x +x +x Equilibrium C – x x x

with

[K_{ce a} = dfrac{x^2}{C – x} nonumber ]

The equation is then

[x^2 + K_{ce a} x = C K_{ce a} = 0 nonumber ]

The solution of x is then

[x = dfrac{- K_{ce a} + sqrt{K_{ce a}^2 + 4 C K_{ce a}}}{2} nonumber ]

Recall that Ka – 1.78e-5, the values of x for various C are given below:

C = 1.0 0.010 0.00010 M x = 0.0042 0.00041 0.0000342 M pH = 2.38 3.39 4.47

DISCUSSION

In the above calculations, the following cases may be considered:

  1. [x = sqrt{K_{ce a} times C} nonumber ] Note that you are comparing x with C here. If C > 100*Ka, the above method gives satisfactory results.
  2. [x^2 + K_{ce a} x – C K_{ce a} = 0 nonumber ] and the solution for x, which must not be negative, has been given above.
  3. Both cases 1 and 2 neglect the contribution of (ce{[H+]}) from the ionization of water. However, if the pH calculated from cases 1 and 2 falls in the range between 6 and 7, the concentration from self-ionization of water cannot be neglected. When the contribution of pH due to self-ionization of water cannot be neglected, there are two equilibria to be considered.

    (begin{array}{cccccl} ce{HA &rightleftharpoons &H+ &+ &A- &} C-x & &x & &x & ce{H2O &rightleftharpoons &H+ &+ &OH- &} 55.6 &&y &&y &leftarrow (ce{[H2O]} = 55.6) end{array})

    Thus,

    (begin{align} ce{[H+]} &= (x+y), ce{[A- ]} &= x, ce{[OH- ]} &= y, end{align})

    and the two equilibria are

    [K_{ce a} = dfrac{(x+y) x}{C – x}label{1} ]

    and

    [begin{align} K_{ce w} &= (x+y), y, label{2} (K_{ce w} &= textrm{1E-14}) end{align} nonumber ]

    There are two unknown quantities, x and y in two equations, and (1) may be rearranged to give

    [x^2 + (y + K_{ce a}) x – C K_{ce a} = 0 nonumber ]

    [x = dfrac{ -(y+K_{ce a}) + ((y+K_{ce a})^2 + 4 C K_{ce a})^{1/2}}{2} nonumber ]

    One of the many methods to find a suitable solution for this problem is to use iterations, or successive approximations.

    1. Assume that (y = 1 10^{-7})
    2. [x = dfrac{ -(y+K_{ce a}) + ((y+K_{ce a})^2 + 4 CK_{ce a})^{1/2}}{2} nonumber ]
    3. [yn = dfrac{1 times 10^{-14}}{x+y} nonumber ]
    4. Replace y in step (2) by yn, and recalculate x.
    5. Repeat steps (2) and (3) until the new values and the old values differ insignificantly.
Refer to more articles:  Which Survey Method Results In The Worst Response Rate

The above procedure is actually a general method that always gives a satisfactory solution. This technique has to be used to calculate the pH of dilute weak acid solutions. Further discussion is given in the Exact Calculation of pH.

RELATED ARTICLES

Most Popular

Recent Comments