A 2.5 M solution of a monoprotic acid has a pH of 2.50 at 25°C. What is the equilibrium constant for this acid? Is it a strong or weak acid?

Respuesta :

Answer:

4.0 × 10⁻⁶

Weak acid

Explanation:

Step 1: Calculate [H⁺]

We know that the pH is 2.50. We will calculate [H⁺] using the following expression.

pH = -log [H⁺]

[H⁺] = antilog -pH = antilog -2.50 = 3.16 × 10⁻³ M

Step 2: Calculate the acid dissociation constant (Ka)

We will use the following expression.

[tex]Ka = \frac{[H^{+}]^{2} }{Ca}[/tex]

where,

Ca is the concentration of the acid (2.5 M)

[tex]Ka = \frac{[H^{+}]^{2} }{Ca} = \frac{(3.16 \times 10^{-3} )^{2} }{2.5}= 4.0 \times 10^{-6}[/tex]

Since Ka << 1, the acid is weak.