Acid Dissociation Constant - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia Page 1
Acid dissociation constant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 1 Help us provide free content to the world by donating today ! Acid dissociation constant From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia An acid dissociation constant (aka acidity constant, acid-ionization constant) is an equilibrium constant for the dissociation of an acid. It is denoted by Ka. For an equilibrium between a generic acid, HA, and − its conjugate base, A , The weak acid acetic acid donates a proton to water in an equilibrium reaction to give the acetate ion and − + HA A + H the hydronium ion. Key: Hydrogen is white, oxygen is red, carbon is gray. Lines are chemical bonds. K is defined, subject to certain conditions, as a where [HA], [A−] and [H+] are equilibrium concentrations of the reactants. The term acid dissociation constant is also used for pKa, which is equal to −log 10 Ka. The term pKb is used in relation to bases, though pKb has faded from modern use due to the easy relationship available between the strength of an acid and the strength of its conjugate base. Though discussions of this topic typically assume water as the solvent, particularly at introductory levels, the Brønsted–Lowry acid-base theory is versatile enough that acidic behavior can now be characterized even in non-aqueous solutions. The value of pK indicates the strength of an acid: the larger the value the weaker the acid. In aqueous a solution, simple acids are partially dissociated to an appreciable extent in in the pH range pK ± 2. The a actual extent of the dissociation can be calculated if the acid concentration and pH are known.
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