PDA

View Full Version : Finding pH


uzairhamid
Mar 20, 2009, 02:33 AM
What would be the pH measured for 0.1M H2S solution at 25 degrees Celsius?
Choices are: 1, 2, 4 or 6

When I calculated it, my answer came out to be 0.69.
My method:
H2S-> 2H + S
0.1M .2M .1M

[H]=0.2
pH=-log[H]
=0.69
Can you help me with this question?

Perito
Mar 20, 2009, 03:06 AM
H2S is not a strong acid. Therefore, it's not fully ionized. Since you aren't given the dissociation constant pK_a, you either have to look it up, or figure out a guess. If you were to assume that only one of the hydrogens ionizes, you'd get

[H]=0.1

Right?

Then pH = 1

But, not even one hydrogen is fully ionized in H2S.

Acetic acid has only one proton available. Its pKa is about 4.76. Common solutions of this are in the range of pH=4.1 to 4.8. Is acetic acid a stronger acid than H2S, or a weaker acid?

uzairhamid
Mar 20, 2009, 03:10 AM
H2S is not a strong acid. Therefore, it's not fully ionized. Since you aren't given the dissociation constant pK_a, you either have to look it up, or figure out a guess. If you were to assume that only one of the hydrogens ionizes, you'd get

[H]=0.1

Right?

Then pH = 1

But, not even one hydrogen is fully ionized in H2S.

OK, but suppose pKa was given and the molarity, then how would you have solved it?

Perito
Mar 20, 2009, 03:28 AM
From the definition of pKa:

if HA = H^+ + A^-

pKa = \frac{[H^+][A^-]}{[Acid]}

You know pKa and the concentration of [H^+] and [A^-] are the same. You also know the concentration of the acid (and you can ignore changes in that concentration for very weak acids). Therefore, you can calculate [H^+] and determine the pH.