Acid-Base Equilibrium

Chapter 18
Acids and Bases
Arrhenius
acids: generate H
+
in water
bases: generate OH
-
in water

Brnsted-Lowry
acids: H
+
donors
bases: H
+
acceptors

HCl + H
2
O Cl

+ H
3
O
+
acid base
Conjugate acid-base pairs
Conjugate base:
remains after H
+
is lost
acid: HCl conj. base: Cl
-

Conjugate acid:
remains after H
+
is gained
base: NH
3
conj. acid: NH
4
+
Base Acid + Acid Base +
Conjugate Pair
Conjugate Pair
Strong and Weak Acids
Strong: 100% dissociation
good H
+
donor
equilibrium lies far to right (HNO
3
)
generates weak base (NO
3
-
)

Weak: <100% dissociation
not-as-good H
+
donor
equilibrium lies far to left (CH
3
COOH)
generates strong base (CH
3
COO
-
)
Very strong
Strong
Weak
Very weak
Relative Acid
Strength
Relative Conj.
Base Strength
Very weak
Weak
Strong
Very strong
Acid Dissociation Constant

O H A O H HA
3
-
2
[HA]
] ][A [H
[HA]
] ][A O [H
K
- -
3
a


K
a

I
n
c
r
e
a
s
e
s

Strength
vs. K
a

C at
o
25 10 1 ] ][OH O [H K
14 -
3 w


Acid Base Conj. Acid Conj. Base
Water is amphoteric
[H
3
O
+
] and [OH
-
]
[H
3
O
+
] 1x10
0
to 1x10
-14
in water
[OH
-
] 1x10
-14
to 1x10
0
in water

] O [H
K
] [OH
3
w
-

14 -
3 w
10 1 ] ][OH O [H K



] [OH
K
] O [H
-
w
3

Finding [H
3
O
+
] and [OH
-
]
pH Scale
] log[H - ] O log[H - pH
3


14 -
3 w
10 1 ] ][OH O [H K


pH 0 to 14 in water
] log[OH - ] log[OH - pOH


pOH 14 to 0 in water
pK
w
= pH + pOH = 14
H
+

H
+

H
+

OH
-
OH
-
OH
-
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Acidic Neutral Basic
pH and pOH
As [H
3
O
+
] rises, [OH
-
] falls
As pH falls, pOH rises
Indicators
Strength of Bases
Strong:
100% dissociation
OH
-
supplied to solution
NaOH
(s)
Na
+
(aq)
+ OH
-
(aq)



Weak:
<100% dissociation
OH
-
by reaction with water
CH
3
NH
2(aq)
+ H
2
O
(l)
CH
3
NH
2(aq)
+ OH
-
(aq)

Base Dissociation Constant

OH BH O H B
2
-
] [B
] [BH][OH
K
-
-
b

K
w
, K
a
and K
b

14 -
3 w
10 1 ] ][OH O [H K


14
b a w
10 1 K K K



K
K
K
b
w
a

K
K
K
a
w
b

Lewis Acids and Bases
Lewis Acid: electron pair acceptor
Lewis Base: electron pair donor

A l
3 +
+ 6
H
O
H
A l O
H
H
6
3 +
Acid Base
Buffers
Buffer solution: a mixture of conjugate acid and base
that resists pH changes.

A buffer contains a weak acid and a salt of the same
acid.
A buffer contains a weak base and a salt of the same
base.

pH of buffers
For a weak acid, HA, we have
HA = H
+
+ A

[H
+
] [A

]
K
a
=
[HA]
[A

]
log K
a
= log [H
+
] log
[HA]
[A

] [A

]
pK
a
= pH log pH = pK
a
+ log
[HA] [HA]
[salt]
[acid
pH = pKa + log salt / acid





pH = pKb + log salt / base




The Common Ion Effect
CommonIon Effect: the change in the
equilibrium that results from the addition of
an ion that is involved in the equilibrium.