All Questions
41
questions
22
votes
3
answers
3k
views
How was it concluded that the H3O+ rather than H+ is the "acid" ion?
I suspect that initially, scientists believed that the acid ion was $\ce{H^+}$ since $\ce{H2}$ is released through electrolysis, right? But what experiment was done to change the standpoint to assume ...
- 369
18
votes
2
answers
11k
views
How should the hydrated proton be represented in chemical equations?
I learned the equation
$$\ce{H2O + H+ -> H3O+}$$
And I know $\ce{H+}$ and $\ce{H3O+}$ really mean the same thing. But I am confused as to when I should use $\ce{H+}$ and when I should use $\ce{...
- 4,703
14
votes
2
answers
169k
views
What are the products of the dissociation of sodium bicarbonate in water? What is the relative pH of the solution?
I had a recent question on a test that asked what the products would be if sodium hydrogen carbonate were dissolved in water. I had a few candidate answers
$\displaystyle\ce{NaHCO3 -> Na+ + HCO3-}$...
- 371
13
votes
1
answer
11k
views
Can H4O 2+ form?
Like $\ce{NH4+}$ ,Is there any possibility of formation of $\ce{H4O^{2+}}$ (of tetrahedral structure)?
My theory is: it can be formed by osmosis setup where heavy acids like $\ce{H3PO4}$ or $\ce{...
- 1,232
13
votes
2
answers
8k
views
Why does the ionic product of water remain constant after addition of non-neutral solute?
In my textbook, it is given that the ionic product of water $K_\mathrm{w}$ remains constant even when a non-neutral solute such as an acid is added to it.
$$K_\mathrm{w} = \ce{[H3O+][OH-]}$$
When a ...
- 295
11
votes
2
answers
545
views
Why quaternary nitrogen but not tertiary oxygen?
Why do quaternary ammonium ions with a partially positive nitrogen form fairly readily and are often stable but tertiary oxygens, apparently called oxonium ions, are more rare/less stable? The trend ...
- 1,690
10
votes
1
answer
10k
views
How does the HCl-KCl Buffer work?
I have just been studying the $\ce{HCl}$-$\ce{KCl}$ 'buffer', but there are still quite a few things I am uncertain about. I would appreciate any help in clearing up some questions I have.
What I ...
- 445
5
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Calculating approximate pH of polyprotic acids
When I took up ionic equilibria and titrations after a long break, I found it hard to solve the questions regarding pH calculations of polyprotic acds. Consider these two questions as examples:-
...
- 6,795
5
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Does the hydrolysis speed increase when more H+ ions are in the solution?
In hydrolysis of polysaccharides, does the hydrolysis speed increase when more $\ce{H+}$ ions are present in the solution?
So if I were to use $\ce{H2SO4}$ instead of $\ce{HCl}$ (same volumes) then $\...
user2117
4
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Is the concentration of negative ions always equal to that of positive ions?
Is there any way in which a solution can have more negative charge than positive charge, or vice versa? For example, in the context of acid-base chemistry, is there any scenario in which $[\ce{H+}]\ne[...
- 1,292
3
votes
2
answers
42k
views
How is the dissolution of acetic acid that makes its aqueous solution a poor electrolyte?
I'm having a difficulty understanding the following quote from Wikipedia - Dissociation:
Acetic acid is extremely soluble in water, but most of the compound dissolves into molecules, rendering it a ...
- 203
3
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Acidity of oxonium ion
How was the pKa value (-1.7) for the oxonium ion determined? Why does it correspond to the minimum pH value accessible in water? What reaction does it represent?
- 14.4k
3
votes
1
answer
427
views
In a redox reaction, why does more than one oxidation state of an element form?
Consider the reaction 100ml 10M $\ce{NaOH_{(aq)}} +$ 100ml 10M $\ce{NaHSO3_{(aq)} +}$ 100mL 0.01M $\ce{KMnO4_{(aq)}}$
In the picture posted here, the left columns give information on the Molarity of ...
- 720
3
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Reversibility of an acid's reaction with water depending on its strength
This is how my chemistry professor compared reaction of a weak and a strong acid with water:
$$\ce{HCl + H2O -> H3O+ + Cl- + Heat}$$
In this case $\ce{H2O}$ breaks the bond between $\ce{H}$ ...
- 183
3
votes
1
answer
302
views
Why do strong acids dissociate (almost) fully on a molecular level?
In the Brønsted-Lowry theory, strong acids $\ce{HA}$ dissociate using water and react into hydronium ions and the conjugate bases $\ce{A-}$. However I never understood in the strong acids case what ...
- 163