Acid Base Equilibria

and Salt Equilibria

Bronsted Acids & Acid-Base Property
of Water
• Amphoteric is a general term for substances that can react both as an
acid and a base
• more specific term used to describe a substance which can both
donate and accept hydrogen ions (protons).
• All amphiprotic substances are also amphoteric, but not all
amphoteric substances are amphiprotic.
• Amphiprotic substance is one that can donate or accept H+ ions.
• An Amphoteric Subtance is one that can react with
both acids and bases.
• The auto-ionization of water molecules follows the reaction below:

• Acids and bases in the Bronsted model therefore exist as conjugate

pairs whose formulas are related by the gain or loss of a hydrogen ion
Buffer Solutions
• What is pH?
• pH- Power of Hydrogen Ion
Example:
1. Calculate the pH of a solution with a hydrogen ion concentration of
0.0003 M.
2. What is the hydronium ion concentration of a solution which has a
pH of 4?
• “How can you use the pH scale in differentiating acidic, neutral and
basic solutions?”
• If pH > 7, the solution is acidic
• If pH = 7, the solution is neutral
• If pH < 7, the solution is basic
• pH can also be determined using pH meter and acid-base indicators.
Common indicators such as phenolphthalein, methyl red, and
bromothymol blue are used to indicate pH ranges of about 8 to 10,
4.5 to 6, and 6 to 7.5, accordingly. On these ranges, phenolphthalein
changes from colorless to pink, methyl red from red to yellow, and
bromothymol blue from yellow to blue. For universal indicators,
however, the pH range is much broader and the number of color
changes is much greater. Usually, universal pH indicators are in the
paper strip form.
Strong Acids
• Acid strength refers to its ability to lose a proton. A strong acid is one
that completely ionizes (dissociates) in a solution yielding a mole of
hydronium ion. A strong base always gets the proton.
• Bronsted acid is a substance that loses a proton, H+,
• and a Bronsted base gains a proton.
• The proton is highlighted in red in the equation HA + H2O. After
mixing, the proton can go to either the H2O molecule or stick with A-.
There are two possibilities for this reaction:
• 1. If H2O is a strong base it will get the proton and the reaction will
yield high concentration of H3O+ and A-.
• 2. If A- has a stronger attraction to the proton (low tendency to lose a
proton), we say that it is a weak acid, then the reaction will yield low
concentration of H3O+ and A-.
• The acid/base strength can also be described quantitatively. The acid
dissociation constant measures the strength of an acid and the base
dissociation constant for the strength of a base.
• Examining the equilibrium expressions, Ka will be greater than 1 if:
• a) the reaction involves the dissociation of a strong acid,
• b) the concentration of hydronium ion and anion is high, and
• c) the concentration of HA is low.
• Otherwise, the value of Ka will be less than 1. For small Ka, the
undissociated acid is favoured.
• Kb will be greater than 1 if:
• a) the reaction involves a strong base,
• b) the concentration of hydroxide ion and cation is high, and
• c) the concentration of unionized B is low.
• Otherwise, the value of Kb will be less than 1. For small Ka, the
unionized base is favoured.
Henderson Hasselbalch Equation

• On what factors does [H+] depend on? Clearly, the pH of a buffer solution depends on
Ka and on the ratio of the concentration of the weak acid and its conjugate base.
• When the amounts of the weak acid and its conjugate base is equal, pH will greatly
depend on Ka. Therefore, choose a conjugate weak acid-weak base pair in which the
value of Ka of the weak acid is close to the desired pH.
• Which buffer system should you use if the desired pH is 4? 7? 10?
• As a rule, the pKa of the weak acid should be within ±1 unit front eh
desired pH.
• Follow the steps below:
• a) Determine the concentration of the solution (if not given) and the Ka
(from standard Ka list)
• b) Write the balanced dissociation equation for the acid dissolving in water.
• c) Write the equilibrium expression for the acid.
• d) Make an ICE (initial concentration, change in concentration and
concentration at equilibrium) table.
• e) Using the Ka expression in C, solve for [H3O+]
• f) Calculate the pH of the solution.
• What is the pH of a 0.50 M acetic acid? (Ka=1.8 x 10-5)
• Calculate the pH of 6x10-3 M NH3 solution. (pKb=4.74)
• Ka=1.8 x 10-5
• What is the pH of the solution containing 0.20 M NH3 and 0.15 M
NH4Cl?
• Given: [NH3]=0.20 (conjugate base)
• [NH4Cl]= 0.15 (weak acid)
• pKa=9.25 (forNH4+, from the table)
Solubility Product Constant
• The equilibrium expression for solubility product constant is
straightforward.
• The ratio of Sn2+ and OH¯ is one-to-two. For every Sn2+ dissolves, we
get twice that amount of OH¯.
• Representing it mathematically, 'x' Sn2+ gives '2x' OH¯.
• We can use Ksp to compute for solubility of ions, and vice versa.
• 1. Write the equilibrium expression for Ksp of the following:
• a. GaBr3
• b. PbI2
• c. Al2O3
• d. Ca3(PO4)2
• e. Co(OH)2
• f. BaCO3
• g. Mg(OH)2
• Solubility product constant (Ksp) is the product of the dissolved ion
concentrations raised to the power of their stoichiometric
coefficients.
• When the concentration of ions is high, the salt has high solubility,
and Ksp is also high.
• Ksp values are based on saturated solutions where equilibrium has
been reached. Unsaturated solutions don't have Ksp values because
they are not at equilibrium.
• The ratio of the ions in the Ksp expression will be used in the
computation of solubility of ions.
• Compute the Ksp of Ag2S if a saturated solution contains
• [S-2] = 2.92 x10-17.
• Step 1: Write the reaction describing the dissolution.
• Ag2S (s) —> 2 Ag^+ (aq) + S^-2 (aq)
• Step 2: Determine the concentration of each ion.
• The ratio of Ag+ to S-2 is 2:1. Therefore,
• [Ag+1] = 2(2.92 x10-17) [
• S-2] = 2.92 x10-17
• Step 3: Write solubity product constant expression. Ksp =[Ag+1]2[S-2]
• Step 4: Substitute the values. Ksp= (5.84x10-17)2 (2.92x10-17) Ksp = 9.96
x10-50
Seatwork
1.Consider the reaction:
• PbSO4 (s) —> Pb2+ (aq) + SO42- (aq).
• The measured Pb2+ in the saturated solution is 2.0 x 10-5 M. Find
the value of Ksp.
2. The Ksp of silver bromide is 3.2 10-13. Calculate the molar solubility
of the ions present in the resulting solution.
AgBr (s) —> Ag+ (aq) + Br- (aq)