Dominant Species Charged or Neutral Clarification

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Jessica Tam 3H
Posts: 126
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2021 5:10 am

Dominant Species Charged or Neutral Clarification

Postby Jessica Tam 3H » Sun Jan 16, 2022 11:42 pm

Hi,
From my understanding, for acids, when
pH>pKa the charged A- species becomes dominant
pH<pKa the neutral HA species becomes dominant
pOH>pKb the neutral HA species becomes dominant
pOH<pKb the charged A- species becomes dominant

and for bases,
pH>pKa the neutral B species becomes dominant
pH<pKa the charged BH+ species becomes dominant
pOH>pKb the charged BH+ species becomes dominant
pOH<pKb the neutral B species becomes dominant

Can anyone confirm this?

Sohan Talluri 1L
Posts: 110
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2021 6:41 am
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Re: Dominant Species Charged or Neutral Clarification

Postby Sohan Talluri 1L » Sun Jan 16, 2022 11:58 pm

In general, when comparing the pH of the solution to the pKA of an acid or the pKB of a base, the solution can be thought of as a "stronger" or "weaker" acid/base than the given substance. For example, when the pH < pKA, the solution itself has a higher concentration of H+ ions and is a "stronger acid" than the given acid, which would cause the given acid to remain protonated as HA. This can also be applied to pOH and pKB values.

Hopefully this helps and please correct me if there are any mistakes.


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