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Acid Dissociation Constant

  • Page ID
    16559
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    Acid dissociation constant or acidity constant (symbol: Ka) of the hypothetical compound HA is the equilibrium constant of the reaction (see,Brønsted-Lowry theory),

    aciddissociationconstant1.png

    in dilute aqueous solution at 25 ºC.

    For the above system,

    aciddissociationconstant2.png

    In dilute solution,

    aciddissociationconstant3.png

    The larger the Ka of a species, the larger the fraction of the species that donates H+ to water, greater its acid strength. Thus, Ka of a species is a measure of its acid strength.

    eg:

    aciddissociationconstant4.png

    Ka of HI is larger than that of HCl, meaning HI is a stronger acid than HCl.


    This page titled Acid Dissociation Constant is shared under a All Rights Reserved (used with permission) license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Gamini Gunawardena via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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