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For example, acetic acid is a weak acid which has a = 1.75 x 10 −5. Its conjugate base is the acetate ion with K b = 10 −14 /K a = 5.7 x 10 −10 (from the relationship K a × K b = 10 −14), which certainly does not correspond to a strong base. The conjugate of a weak acid is often a weak base and vice versa.
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 ...
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 ...
A weak electrolyte is a substance whose solute exists in solution mostly in the form of molecules (which are said to be "undissociated"), with only a small fraction in the form of ions. Simply because a substance does not readily dissolve does not make it a weak electrolyte. Acetic acid (CH 3 COOH) and ammonium (NH + 4) are good examples ...
In a buffer, a weak acid and its conjugate base (in the form of a salt), or a weak base and its conjugate acid, are used in order to limit the pH change during a titration process. Buffers have both organic and non-organic chemical applications. For example, besides buffers being used in lab processes, human blood acts as a buffer to maintain pH.
However, for weak acids, a quadratic equation must be solved, and for weak bases, a cubic equation is required. In general, a set of non-linear simultaneous equations must be solved. Water itself is a weak acid and a weak base, so its dissociation must be taken into account at high pH and low solute concentration (see amphoterism).
This page was last edited on 5 April 2020, at 12:38 (UTC).; Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License; additional terms may ...
Acetic acid is a weak monoprotic acid. In aqueous solution, it has a pK a value of 4.76. [21] Its conjugate base is acetate (CH 3 COO −). A 1.0 M solution (about the concentration of domestic vinegar) has a pH of 2.4, indicating that merely 0.4% of the acetic acid molecules are dissociated. [a]