Acids and Bases

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Joined: Sat Aug 17, 2019 12:15 am

Acids and Bases

Are all acid and base reactions at equilibrium?

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Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2019 12:16 am

Re: Acids and Bases

If I understand your question correctly, the answer is no. Like any other chemical reaction, there will be times when a given acid-base reaction is at equilibrium and times when the reaction is not at equilibrium.

Lindsey Chheng 1E
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Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2019 12:16 am

Re: Acids and Bases

Jada Brown 2H wrote:Are all acid and base reactions at equilibrium?

For weak acids and bases, we usually write their reactions with equilibrium arrows, but for strong acids and bases we usually write their equations with a single arrow pointing forward to indicate that the strong acid completely dissociates. However, Lavelle did mention that for strong acids and bases, we can also draw an equilibrium sign, but with the reverse arrow being really small compared to the forward arrow to indicate the favorability of the forward reaction.

Jaci Glassick 2G
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Joined: Sat Jul 20, 2019 12:16 am

Re: Acids and Bases

No, like any other reaction. There are times in which the reaction is at equilibrium and times in which it is not. However Kw of an acid-base reaction at 25 C, is always 1x10^-14. That is constant when the reaction is at equilibrium.

Sebastian Lee 1L
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Re: Acids and Bases

Like others have said, acid and base reactions are not always at equilibrium. However, it is important to note that when we do calculations for pH, pKa, and pKb, these values will be based on equilibrium concentrations. This is especially important when considering weak acids/bases' dissociation. It is at equilibrium when we measure how much a weak acid or base has dissociated so the equilibrium constants of Ka and Kb are based on this, and we'll learn how to use these to find pH of those weak acids/bases.

smurphy1D
Posts: 51
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2019 12:18 am

Re: Acids and Bases

How do you incorporate the temperature into a Kw=[H3O+][OH-] equation?

smurphy1D
Posts: 51
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2019 12:18 am

Re: Acids and Bases

If we want to use approximation do we have to find the percentage of certainty every time or only it it asks for it?