Many reactions in aqueous solutions involve weak acids or bases or slightly soluble substances, and in such cases one or more equilibria are achieved in solution. Furthermore, the equilibrium state is usually reached almost instantaneously, and so we can use the equilibrium law to calculate the concentrations and amounts of substance of different species in solution. Such information enables us to understand, predict, and control what will happen in solution, and it has numerous practical applications. Equilibrium constants may be used to obtain information about reactions in solution, and in many cases the results of equilibrium calculations will be applied to practical problems.
The ionization of water is critical to an understanding of acid base reactions and aqueous reactions in general. Read on to learn how the ionization of water works and why it is so important.
The pH of a solution of a weak base can be calculated in a way which is very similar to that used for a weak acid. Instead of an acid constant Ka, a base constant Kb must be used.
While most acids and bases can only donate or accept a single proton, some special substances can accept or donate multiple protons. We call these substance polyprotic acids and you can read on to learn more about them.
Buffers allow chemists to maintain a specific pH range for a reaction. Buffers utilize conjugate acid-base pairs to function. Read on to learn more about the specifics and calculations of buffers.
Indicators do exactly what they say, they indicate the pH of a solution, usually using color. This section gives a couple of examples of indicators and describes how they work.
Titration curves graphically represent the change in pH as titrant is added. This section describes what information these curves provide and how that information is used in chemistry.
While many ionic solutions are completely soluble in ionic solutions, some are only slightly so. This section investigates how to quantify just how soluble a substance is using the solubility product.
Chemists have many tricks up their sleeve, and the common ion effect is a "trick" that allows a chemist to increase the amount of salt that dissolves in solution.