Hello
This is my first post, nice to meet you all, I'm hoping you might share some chemistry wisdom with me.
I'm working through a couple of questions, and feel very uncertain about my progress, please tell me if I've gone rogue.
The first question asks me to write a balanced chemical equation for the dissociation of CH3COOH in water, including the phase state of each chemical species, my answer is:
CH3COOH (aq) + H2O(l)
CH3COO-(aq) + H3O-(aq)
The second question is:
Based on your chemical equation in the previous question, write an expression for corresponding equilibrium constant for acid dissociation Ka in terms of the concentrations of the species involved (hint: which one of the species is NOT included in the expression?)
This question is where I'm stuck - Have I written the original equation wrong?
The third question is:
The equilibrium constant for acid dissociation of acetic acid, Ka = 1.8x10-5. Explain what this tells us about the favoured direction of the equilibrium (i.e. does it favour reactants or products)?
I think: Acetic acid is a weak acid, meaning it will sparingly donate a proton (ionise) in water, The equilibrium lies to the left – it favours the reactants. Ka << 1
But again, my grip on this is (clearly) tenuous.
Grateful for any and all insight.