CHEMISTRY COMMUNITY

Will we have to memorize strong acids and bases for Test 1?

It is best to memorize the lists of strong acids and bases because once you know those whatever else you are given will be weak acids or bases. If you don't memorize the list you can look at the Ka value and if it is a high Ka that means the acid highly dissociates and therefore it is a strong acid.

If the Ka value is greater than 10^3 you know it is a strong acid and if it is less than 10^-3 than you know it is a weak acid. However, it is just good to know the list of strong acids so I recommend learning them at some point.

It is a great to know a common list of strong acids and bases for the test but it is not required. It is important to know that if the Ka/Kb value is less than 10^-3 it is a weak acid/base.

No the exam I feel is more weak acids and bases.

For Test 1, what do we need to know about pH of weak acid/base and its salt? Should we just know how to solve it, or do we need a deeper conceptual knowledge of it? I'm a little confused because we didn't go over this in discussion last week. If someone could clarify, that'd be great!

Sarah_Kang_2K wrote:For Test 1, what do we need to know about pH of weak acid/base and its salt? Should we just know how to solve it, or do we need a deeper conceptual knowledge of it? I'm a little confused because we didn't go over this in discussion last week. If someone could clarify, that'd be great!

He noted in lecture that they're used to make buffers but he didn't elaborate beyond that so I'd be surprised if a conceptual understanding for this shows up on the test

I think as long as you know the most common or how to tell the difference between them you should be fine.

My Plf recommended memorizing this list.