Acid-base equilibria
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Why has 0.05 M HCl has a higher concentration of hydrogen ions than 0.5 M CH3COOH
Corrie writes ...
The reason is that HCl, being a strong acid, dissociates completely in dilute solution in water, so the H+ concentration will be 0.05 M.
On the other hand ethanoic acid is a weak acid and is only about 1% dissociated in dilute solution in water. Most of the acid is present as CH3COOH molecules in solution.
Using the equilibrium constant for this dissocation, Ka, the H+ concentration can be worked out. For 0.5 M ethanoic acid the H+ concentration will be 0.003 M.
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updated: 23 February 2007
