The Conjugate Seesaw - Conceptual Understanding
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The Conjugate Seesaw - Conceptual Understanding
Although our notes clearly state that with the conjugate seesaw, the stronger the acid, the weaker its conjugate base and the stronger the base, the weaker its conjugate acid. I understand how this relates to the equation Ka X Kb = Kw. I also understand how to calculate different values when given this equation. However, can anyone break this down a bit more conceptually? I am having a hard time entirely understanding the reasoning behind the relationship between acids and bases in this scenario.
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Re: The Conjugate Seesaw - Conceptual Understanding
How I like to think of it is that strong bases and acids like to dissociate completely, and thus once, for example, HCl breaks into H+ and Cl- this reaction cannot be reversed. Thus, this means that Cl-, the conjugate base of HCl, will not pick up those H+ protons and form HCl again, making it a weak base. I hope that helps!
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Re: The Conjugate Seesaw - Conceptual Understanding
A strong acid or base will have a high Ka or Kb, meaning they will produce a lot of H+ (H30+) or OH-. the conjugate of those strong acids or bases will have low Ka or Kb's based off the Kw equation. Thus, they will not be as productive in generating H+ (H30+) or OH-.
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Re: The Conjugate Seesaw - Conceptual Understanding
I think its easiest to think of it in terms of OH and H3O. A strong acid will have a high concentration of H3O, which means a low concentration of OH, which is why the base is weak. Another relationship you can use to think about it is [OH][H3O]=10^-14. If one is high, the other has to be low, creating the seesaw.
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