Scribd
Upload
4 views15 pages

CH2113 Lecture 3

Uploaded by

Ayushmaan joshi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
4 views15 pages

CH2113 Lecture 3

Uploaded by

Ayushmaan joshi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 15

CH2113 Principles of Inorganic Chemistry

Lecture 3

ACIDS & BASES

11 September 2023
Instructor: Dr. R. Vaidhyanathan 11.a.m.-12.p.m.
Concept of pH
Aim: To express the strength of an acid

The strength of an acid is always relative

When an acidic species dissolves in water it releases protons, H+. Now, how many proton it
releases decides its strength

The concentration of H+, [H+] or [H3O+] gives the quantification of acid’s strength in moles/litre

Now for any acid, if we know the Ka or pKa or pH, the other can be calculated!
Example
Given the pH of 0.145M acetic acid is 2.8, calculate the pKa of the acid?

[H3O+] = 10-2.8 = 0.00158489319 = ~1.6 x 10-3 Mol/Litre

[H3O+] = [CH3COO-]; Now, Neglecting the autoprotolysis of water, concentration of


acetic acid
[CH3COOH] = 0.145 – 0.0016 = 0.143 mol/L

3
For base: NH3 + H2O ⇌ NH4+ + OH-

If the Kb << 1 it is a weak base

For NH3, the Kb = 1.8 x 10-5 => only very few NH4+ exists

In general, Ka << 1 or Kb << 1 indicates weak acid and weak base

4
Practical pH Scale

• pH scale extends from 1 to 14

• It is a relative value

• Water is amphoteric with


ability to autoprotolyze

• The pH for this


autoprotolysis reaction
is set as 7 at STP
Autoprotolysis - Example water

Water being amphoteric undergoes Autoprotolysis via very fast H+ transfer

Only very few H2O molecules undergo this

2 H2O ⇌ H3O+ + OH-

6
pH changes with concentration HF HCl HBr HI

1mM 10mM 100mM pKa: 3.1 -6.0 -9.0 -9.5


pH of HF: 3.27/ 2.65/ 2.12
More negative => stronger the acid

7
Expressing acidity of bases

Base
NH3 + H2O ⇌ NH4+ + OH-
the number of hydroxyl ions that the basic molecule
can produce in the aqueous solution
Conj. acid
NH4+ + H2O ⇌ NH3 + H3O+

Ka * Kb = KW

For NH3, Kb = 1.8 x 10-5, then Ka of NH4+ is given by

Ka = Kw/Kb = 1 x 10-14/1.8 x 10-5 = 5.6 x 10-10


8

Note: pKa + pKb = pKw /pKsolvent


Polyprotic acids
Polyprotic acids lose protons in succession
Successive deptrotonation is progressively less favoured- Why?
Due to progressively increasing electrostatic attraction between the bound proton
and the negatively charged center

e.g. H2S (g) + H2O (l) ⇌ HS- (aq) + H3O+ (aq) Ka1 = 8.9 x 10-8; Ka2 = 1.2 x 10-13

Ka2 < Ka1

pKa1 < pKa2 9


Distribution diagram for polyprotic acids, H3PO4 as an example

Representation of the concentration of different species that are formed


during the successive proton transfer equilibria

Triprotic acid, H3PO4

Fraction of H3PO4 present in the solution

10
Distribution diagram of polyprotic acid

Concentration of H3PO4 is max at pH = 0


(highly acidic condition)

Concentration of H3PO4 drops to zero at pH


= 4.2 (relatively weakly acidic condition)

At pH = 4.2, mostly we will have H2PO42-

In basic condition 8.8-9.2, HPO42- is the


predominant species

At a pKa = 2.12 it will be


50% H3PO4: 50% H2PO42- 11
What makes an acid strong?

The 1st factor- spreading of charge of the conjugate base. For example, -COO− is more stable than -
CH2O− because the charge is spread around (due to resonance) in the former than in the latter.

The 2nd factor- insulating ability. This means here that the higher the insulation, the greater the
molecules and ions are apart hence keeps them from reacting back again. This is measured by the
dielectric constant; the higher the dielectric constant the greater the insulating ability. (Dielectric
constant of the solvent, parent molecule and the dissociated species).

The 3rd factor- Parent molecule. Parent molecule of stronger acids encourage ionization.

The 4th factor- strength of bond that holds the hydrogen ion. If the bond is weak, then it is more easily to
break it to yield a hydrogen ion. This can be seen in the cases of hydrogen halides; the bond of H-I is very
weak compared to H-F. This makes HI a stronger acid than HF. From a thermodynamical point of view,
the position of an equilibrium is such that the entropy adopted is maximum.
To understand how molecular structure affects the
strength of an acid or base.

In this section, we explore some of the structural and


electronic factors that control the acidity or basicity of a
molecule.
13
Acidity: The +ve the character of a chemical species decreases when reacted
with a base.

Correlating the acid-base definition with identity and molecular structure.


Basicity of metal oxides:

Note: All have the same charge

While BeO is amphoteric all the others are basic, Explain?

In BeO the charge is packed in a smaller volume in comparison to the


others, hence the charge/size ratio impacts the “positiveness” of the cation
and thereby the oxide’s acidity/basicity – Related to Fajan’s polarizability 14
End of Lecture 3: Acids and Bases

15

You might also like