water

H-O-H covalently bonded. 104.5 degrees. van der waals radius of O=1.4A H=1.2A covalent=0.96A
highly polar molecule: H +ve and oxygen -ve form a dipole bond called a hydrogen bond.
this makes water a liquid not a gas at room temp. the bonds are strong but not stable.
they are constantly breaking and reforming so structure is chaotic.
structure of ice is organised and spacious so less dense than water i.e. ice floats on water
water is a good solvent for charge/polar substances but a bad solvent for non polar substances.
water dissolves salt due to the polarity.
hydrogen bonds
hydrogen bonds form in many other molecules than water.
requires prsesence of hydrogen covalently bonded to an electronegative molecule like oxygen or
nitrogen (donor) and in presence of another polar electronegative molecule (acceptor)
bond is stronger when straight aligned with the compound hydrogen is bonded to
bond strengths: covalent > ionic > hydrogen bond > van der waals
ionic is much weaker in water
acid base buffers pH
water self ionises: H20 H+ + OH- H+ is in the form of hydronium ion H3O+
a mole contains 6.02x1023 molecules
molecular mass is the number of g in one mole (given on periodic table)
concentration is measured in MOLES per LITRE (M)
e.g. 1L = 1000ml = 1000g
1 mole of water has a mass of 18g
so mol/L is 1000/18 = 55.6 M or moles of water in a litre of water
equilibrium constant is the concentration of products / reactants
Keq = [H+] . [OH-] / [H2O]
Kw is the ion product of water and is always constant at 1x10-14 M2
pH = -log[H+] as pH is determined by conc of H+ (H3O+)
remember pH measures occurence of H+ (H3O+) i n water i.e. 1 in 100,000
pH and pOH always adds to 14 e.g. in neutral solution [H+] = [OH-] and so pH is 7
pH scale is logarithmic so pH 5 is 10 times more acidic than pH 6
acids are proton donors.
bases are proton acceptors.
strong acids and bases will completely dissociate in water
whereas weak acids and bases only partially dissociate
each acid has a conjugate base and vice versa that forms in dissociation
HCl is a strong acid so it fully dissociates
1M of HCl gives 1M of H+ pH = -log(1) = 0
NaOH is a strong base
1M NaOH gives 1M of OH[OH-] . [H+] = 10-14 pH = -log(10-14) = 14

weak acid dissociation is determined by the acid dissociation constant: Ka

can be used to calculate pH
log(Ka) = pKa
-log(H+) = pH
pH = pKa + log [proton acceptor] / [proton donor] or [base] / [acid]
known as henderson-hasselbach equation
when [A-] = [HA] then pH = pKa solution can be used as a buffer
buffers resist the change of pH and are most efficient at pH = pKa
they are mixtures of weak acid and their conjugate base
buffering region is 1 pH above and below. after this pH changes rapidly.
different weak acids have different pKas and buffer regions so can limit to different pHs
the Ka of a weak acid is constant
Ka = [A-].[H+] / [HA]
when strong acid is added (H+ added) then [A-] must go down (by combining with the H+) in order to
keep the equilibrium constant
pI is the isoelectric point and is the pH at which the molecule has no net charge
pI = 1/2 (pK1 + pK2) where 1 and 2 are either side of the neutral molecule
in panic attacks, hyperventilation increases CO2 conc so blood pH drops below 7.35 (acidemia)
different enzymes have different optimal pHs and ranges at which they function