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In water, measurable pK a values range from about −2 for a strong acid to about 12 for a very weak acid (or strong base). A buffer solution of a desired pH can be prepared as a mixture of a weak acid and its conjugate base. In practice, the mixture can be created by dissolving the acid in water, and adding the requisite amount of strong acid ...
The self-ionization of water (also autoionization of water, autoprotolysis of water, autodissociation of water, or simply dissociation of water) is an ionization reaction in pure water or in an aqueous solution, in which a water molecule, H 2 O, deprotonates (loses the nucleus of one of its hydrogen atoms) to become a hydroxide ion, OH −.
For weak acid solutions, it depends on the degree of dissociation, which may be determined by an equilibrium calculation. For concentrated solutions of acids, especially strong acids for which pH < 0, the value is a better measure of acidity than the pH.
Strong acids, such as sulfuric or phosphoric acid, have large dissociation constants; weak acids, such as acetic acid, have small dissociation constants. The symbol K a , used for the acid dissociation constant, can lead to confusion with the association constant , and it may be necessary to see the reaction or the equilibrium expression to ...
The higher the percentage, the stronger the electrolyte. Thus, even if a substance is not very soluble, but does dissociate completely into ions, the substance is defined as a strong electrolyte. Similar logic applies to a weak electrolyte. Strong acids and bases are good examples, such as HCl and H 2 SO 4. These will all exist as ions in an ...
Thus, the ammonium ion, NH + 4, in liquid ammonia corresponds to the hydronium ion in water and the amide ion, NH − 2 in ammonia, to the hydroxide ion in water. Ammonium salts behave as acids, and metal amides behave as bases. [10] Some non-aqueous solvents can behave as bases, i.e. accept protons, in relation to Brønsted–Lowry acids.
On the other hand, if a chemical is a weak acid its conjugate base will not necessarily be strong. Consider that ethanoate, the conjugate base of ethanoic acid, has a base splitting constant (Kb) of about 5.6 × 10 −10, making it a weak base. In order for a species to have a strong conjugate base it has to be a very weak acid, like water.
The water molecule is amphoteric in aqueous solution. It can either gain a proton to form a hydronium ion H 3 O +, or else lose a proton to form a hydroxide ion OH −. [7] Another possibility is the molecular autoionization reaction between two water molecules, in which one water molecule acts as an acid and another as a base.