Writing Assignment #1 (DUE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, before practice exam):

The main purpose of this writing assignment is to put into words the steps you take to
solve a weak acid or weak base problem. Pretend that the person reading your
explanation is a fellow student who has missed the last two weeks of class due to an
illness. Your explanation has to be clear enough, and detailed enough, that the student
could do this kind of problem on an exam.

Calculate the pH of a 0.110 M solution of hydrozoic acid, a weak acid. Hydrozoic acid,
HN3, has an acid dissociation constant Ka = 1.9 x 10–5. Also calculate the concentrations
of azide ion, N3–, and the concentration of hydroxide ion.

Write a complete explanation of how the problem is done, explaining in good English
prose everything you do and think to get the required answers. You should show
whatever tables or calculations you need to solve the problem, but make sure the results
are explained.

You can either interleave the calculations with your explanation or just do your
calculation on (a) separate sheet(s) (perhaps numbering the lines for easy reference) and
writing your explanation separately. You will probably have to do your calculation first
in a "scratch" form and then recopy to make it presentable. It does not have to be typed,
but it does have to be easily readable.