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Topic: Which is the stronger acid??  (Read 3160 times)

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Offline hiswifetheirmom

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Which is the stronger acid??
« on: November 18, 2009, 09:33:28 PM »
Which acid in each pair is stronger?

A)  CH3COOH  or  HPO4-2

B)  HCO3- or HCN


Offline BetaAmyloid

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Re: Which is the stronger acid??
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2009, 09:40:23 PM »
CH3COOH and HCN are the stronger acids.

The pKa values for CH3COOH compared to HPO4-2 is much lower making it a stronger acid. pKa values for HCO3- and HCN are extremely close, but HCN is a little bit less, again, making it a stronger acid.

pKa relates to the ability of an acid to dissociate causing it to become "stronger" or "weaker."

:)
Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought - Albert Szent-Györgyi

Offline hiswifetheirmom

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Re: Which is the stronger acid??
« Reply #2 on: November 18, 2009, 09:46:26 PM »
Wonderful!!  I get it now!  Thank you for your help.  :)

Offline BetaAmyloid

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Re: Which is the stronger acid??
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2009, 09:51:49 PM »
You're welcome.

To clarify - higher pKa means lower dissociation which means weaker acid; lower pKa means higher dissociation which means stronger acid.

 :)
Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought - Albert Szent-Györgyi

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