Asked by Kelly
Acetic acid has a Ka = 1.75 x 10-5 and formic acid has a Ka = 1.8 x 10-4. Which is the stronger acid?
Answers
Answered by
DrBob222
You COULD go through the math and calculate the H^+ of each and the larger H^+ would be the stronger. However, you should be able to reason it through without the math.
........HAc ==> H^+ + Ac^-
1.75E-5 = (H^+)(Ac^-)/(HAc)
.........Hform ==> H^+ + form^-
1.8E-4 = (H^+)(form^-)/(Hform)
Which is the larger Ka? Hform of course. Larger Ka expression means products are larger than reactants. So larger Ka has larger H^+. Which is stronger?
........HAc ==> H^+ + Ac^-
1.75E-5 = (H^+)(Ac^-)/(HAc)
.........Hform ==> H^+ + form^-
1.8E-4 = (H^+)(form^-)/(Hform)
Which is the larger Ka? Hform of course. Larger Ka expression means products are larger than reactants. So larger Ka has larger H^+. Which is stronger?
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