Ka and Kb

[Angela Patel 2J]

Are Ka and Kb calculated differently?

[nehashetty_2G]

No, the B versus the A subscript are just indicative of whether the reaction is an acid or base.

[Matt Sanruk 2H]

It is similar to the relationship between pOH and pH

[Angela Patel 2J]

So Ka would be calculated for a compound by studying its equilibrium concentrations as if it were an acid, and Kb would be calculated for the conjugate base of that acid and its reaction is what I'm getting. Like the example with NH3 and NH4+ we did in lecture.

[EvanWang]

K_B and K_A are calculated the same way. From what I gathered from the lecture, K_B has to do with the equilibrium constant of bases and has [OH^-] as a product. Conversely, K_A has to do with the equilibrium constant of acids and has [H₃O⁺] as a product. That's the extent to how much they differ.

[Suraj Doshi 2G]

They are calculated similarily in that they both use the [products]/[reactants] ratio. The difference is that for Kb you need to have the [OH-] in the numerator and for Ka you need to have [H30+] in the numerator.