Chapter 16, Problem 16.176QP

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

The pH of the rainwater in the presence of atmospheric sulphur dioxide pollutant has to be calculated

Concept Information:

pH definition:

The concentration of hydrogen ion is measured using $\text{pH}$ scale.  The acidity of aqueous solution is expressed by $\text{pH}$ scale.

The $\text{pH}$ of a solution is defined as the negative base-10 logarithm of the hydrogen or hydronium ion concentration.

$\text{pH}\text{=}{\text{-log[H}}_{\text{3}}{\text{O}}^{\text{+}}\text{]}$

On rearranging, the concentration of hydrogen ion ${\text{[H}}^{+}\text{]}$ can be calculated using pH as follows,

${\text{[H}}^{+}\text{]}\text{=}{\text{10}}^{\text{-pH}}$

Acid ionization constant ${\text{K}}_{\text{a}}$: 

The equilibrium expression for the reaction ${\text{HA}}_{(aq)}\stackrel{}{\to }{\text{H}}^{+}{}_{(aq)}+{\text{A}}^{\text{-}}{}_{(aq)}$ is given below.

$K_a=\frac{[{\text{H}}^{\text{+}}{\text{][A}}^{\text{-}}\text{]}}{[\text{HA]}}$

Where $K_a$ is acid ionization constant, $[{\text{H}}^{\text{+}}\text{]}$  is concentration of hydrogen ion, $[{\text{A}}^{\text{-}}\text{]}$  is concentration of acid anion, $[\text{HA]}$ is concentration of the acid.

To Calculate: The pH of the rainwater in the presence of atmospheric sulphur dioxide pollutant