What IS Ka?

[Ryan M]

I know I'm going to sound like a bit of an idiot here, but after re-watching the lectures I can't seem to find where the professor actually explains what the various k-values mean. If anyone could offer a simple 2 or 3 sentence explanation that would help a lot!

[Grace Chang 1E]

Hi!

I believe the equilibrium constant is the ratio of the amount (in concentration) of products to the amount (in concentration) of reactants. Thus, if the Ka value is high, this means that the acid is relatively strong because it dissociates and creates lots of product in comparison to the reactant (Note: this is why strong acids/bases are considered to have infinitely high equilibrium constants; they are supposedly 100% dissociated, meaning there is no reactant left).

If the Ka value is low, this means that not as much product is produced in comparison to the reactant—in other words, the acid is weaker because it doesn't dissociate as readily.

I hope that helps!

[Ashley Presnell 1C]

Ka can be used to analyze the relative strength of acids. A low Ka correlates to a high pKa since p means the -log of something. Therefore an acid with a high Ka is more acidic than one with a low Ka.

[Kurosh Zamiri 1I]

When given a Ka value, you can automatically assume the acid is weak. This is because Ka represents the dissociation constant, and since strong acids dissociate completely there is no need for a Ka value. A higher Ka value implies increased ionization, and thus a stronger acid. Hope this helps!

[Samidha Menon 1E]

kA represents the dissociation constant. This is saying how much the acid dissociates in water. As mentioned before, keep in mind that strong acid would COMPLETELY (or almost) dissociate, meaning we aren't given a kA value for them.

[Tanvi Akula 2K]

Ka is the equilibrium constant for acids. Similarly, Kb would be the equilibrium constant for bases. An equilibirum constant is essentiall a ratio of the products to reactants and it can help us determine whether the products or reactants are more favored.

[Aaron Martinez]

Ka is the equilibrium constant for acids. It is a ratio of the concentration of products over reactants in a chemical equation. If you are given a Ka, you can assume the acid is weak, because that means that the acid hasn't completely disassociated.

[Neha Jonnalagadda 2D]

Ka is the acid dissociation constant which is used to help tell the difference between strong and weak acids. Ka values are typically higher for stronger acids and this means that the acid will dissociate more.

[Jaipal Virdi 2I]

Ka is an indicator of acid strength, the larger the value the "stronger" it is. However, like Lavelle mentioned in lecture that if it has a Ka we already know it is a weak acid.

[Matthew Nguyen 3G]

Ka is used to tell the acid strength and tells you how much the acid dissociates in water. The larger the value the stronger the acid and vice versa.

[Matthew Nguyen 3G]

Ka is used to tell the acid strength and tells you how much the acid dissociates in water. The larger the value the stronger the acid and vice versa.

[205819952]

Ka is the acid dissociation constant, which is used to distinguish between strong and weak acids.

[Matthew Nguyen 3G]

Ka stands for acid dissociation constant and is used to tell how much the acid dissociates in water. A larger Ka the stronger the acid and smaller Ka the weaker the acid.

[Xzandalyn Kallstrom 2C]

Ka is the acid dissociation constant for a WEAK acid. This is because strong acids completely dissociate in water, so they aren't given a Ka value. Weak acids only partially dissociate and reach equilibrium with the base, meaning the Ka is the acids at equilibrium. A larger Ka value means the solution is more acidic, while a lower Ka means its less acidic

[Adithi Ayyala 2G]

Ka is the value that we equate to the dissociation of a weak acid into solution. As a Ka value increases, we can say that a compound is more acidic, whereas if this value decreases, we would say it is less acidic. A strong acid on the other hand is assumed to dissociate completely.

[danielle05]

Ka (dissociation constant) distinguishes weak acids from strong acids. The higher the Ka value is, the stronger the acid.

[kiara chan]

Ka is the equilbrium constant for acid or the acidity constant. Its usually formatted like [H+][A-]/[HA] where H represent the hydroxide and or hydrogen ions.

[005502505]

Ka is the acidity constant, which may be used to assess the strength of acids. It's usually found by plugging in the equilibrium values of the left/right side of the reaction into the ICE table (products over reactants).

[Anthony_Rio_3K]

Ka is the equilibrium constant for acidity, so the higher a Ka value is the stronger an acid is.

[Allen Lu 2F]

Ka refers to the equilibrium constant of the acid [H+ ions] and Kb refers to the equilibrium constant of the base [OH- ions].

[Madison Kiggins 1E]

Hi, The Ka value is the acid dissociation constant. The Ka value can be used to tell us the relative strength of an acid and how much it dissociates. A larger Ka value indicates that the acid is stronger and will dissociate more.

[Ainsley DeMuth 1H]

K is used for the equilibrium constant and the subscript just gives more information as to what the equilibrium value is for. For example, Ka is the equilibrium constant for an acid ("a" - acid), Kb is the constant for a base ("b" - base) and Kw is for water ("w" - water).

[14b_student 2E]

Ka is the equilibrium constant for acids.

[605607825]

Hello,

Ka stands for the acid dissociation constant! It is essentially the ratio of product to reactants (concentration wise). If this value is low it indicated that not much product is made in comparison to the reactant. The acid is weak since it is not dissociating. If the Ka value is high, this tells us that the acid is quite strong and dissociates more easily than weak acid. In this case, more product is being made than reactant. The Ka value tells us how much the acid is dissociating in the water. I hope this helped!

[Mark_Botros_1D]

Furthermore, to add to the discussion, since Ka is the acid disassociation constant for a particular acid, Kb would be the disassociation constant for its conjugate base. Therefore, Ka x Kb = Kw = 1.0 x 10^-14.

[Wren Xu 3A]

It is the equilibrium constant for weak acid, which is the ratio product(conjugate base and H3O+) to reactant(weak acid). It calculates how much the weak acid dissociates during the reaction. The stronger the acid, the better it dissociates.

[Uma Patil 2A]

Ka is the equilibrium constant for the dissociation of an acid. The chemical equation for dissociation is HA + H20 <--> A- + H30+ .

[Katryn Heine 3A]

Ka is a value that can help us determine the strength of an acid. Ka is determined by putting the products over the reactants. If an acid is strong it'll completely dissociate and create a lot of product, thus a high Ka value will equate to a strong acid.

[Naomi Christian 1E]

Ka is the acid dissociation constant and can tell you how strong an acid is.

[005502505]

Ka is the acid dissociation constant; the higher the Ka, the stronger the acid. It may be visualized by the formula Ka = [A-][H+]/[HA], where A- is the concentration of the conjugate base of the acid, H+ is the concentration of hydrogen ions, and HA is the concentration of the acid initially. Hope this helps!

[Jake1K]

Ka is the acid disassociation constant. It is equal to the ratio of [H+][A-]/[AH].

[Amber1L]

Ka is the acid dissociation constant. Ka is calculated by [H+][A-]/[HA]. A higher Ka value signifies a stronger acid (disassociates more) whereas a lower Ka value signifies a weaker acid (does not disassociate completely).

[Sarah Wang 2G]

Ka is the dissociation constant for acids. It is calculated the same way K is (concentration of products / concentration of reactants) but it is only used if you are given an acid as your reactant. The bigger Ka is, the stronger the acid (since it favors products), and the smaller Ka is, the weaker the acid.

Kb is the dissociation for bases, and is also calculated the same way as K. It is only used when you are given a a base as your reactant. The bigger Kb is, the stronger the base. The smaller Kb is, the weaker the base.

Kw = 1.0 x 10^-14 = Ka x Kb

[Emma Fernandez 1C]

Ka is the dissociation constant for acids, indicating it is a weak acid because strong acids are fully dissociated. The smaller the pKa value, the stronger the acid.

[Kaylee Cheng 3E]

Ka is an acid disassociation constant to determine how much acids will disassociate with water- H2O. Because strong acids will almost completely disassociate, the value of Ka is much greater, which results in a lower pH.

[Valerie M Dis 2E]

The acid dissociation constant (Ka) is used to distinguish strong acids from weak acids. Strong acids have exceptionally high Ka values.

[Skylar Smith 1E]

Ka is the equilibrium constant for an acid dissociation reaction. It will indicate if it is a strong or weak acid. Additionally, as Ka increases the stronger the acid is.

[Kabir Rahal]

Ka is the acid dissociation constant for a compound, and can be used in calculations to find Kw, pH, or pOH. Specifically, Ka can be found by finding the equilibrium constant of an acid dissociation reaction. A higher Ka value corresponds with greater acid dissociation, and thus, stronger acids have higher values of Ka.

[505685545]

KA is the dissociation constant for acids. The higher the KA value is, the stronger the acid is.