Chapter 7, Problem 121E

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation: ThepH of $\text{5}{\text{.0×10}}^{\text{-4}}\text{M}$ HCN solution needs to be determined.

Concept Introduction: An acid is the substance that gives H+ or ${\text{H}}_{\text{3}}{\text{O}}^{\text{+}}$ ions in its aqueous solution. A weak acid is ionized partially and reaches to equilibrium.

  ${\text{HA}}_{\text{(aq)}}{\text{ + H}}_{\text{2}}{\text{O}}_{\text{(l) }}\rightleftharpoons {\text{H}}_{\text{3}}{\text{O}}^{\text{+}}{}_{\text{(aq)}}{\text{+A}}^{\text{-}}{}_{\text{(aq)}}$

The acid dissociation constant is the ratio of concentration of product and reactant for the equilibrium reaction of weak acid in solution. For the given weak acid HA, it can be written as:

  $\begin{array}{l}{\text{HA}}_{\text{(aq)}}{\text{ + H}}_{\text{2}}{\text{O}}_{\text{(l) }}\rightleftharpoons {\text{H}}_{\text{3}}{\text{O}}^{\text{+}}{}_{\text{(aq)}}{\text{+A}}^{\text{-}}{}_{\text{(aq)}}\\ {\text{K}}_{\text{a}}\text{=}\frac{{\text{[H}}_{\text{3}}{\text{O}}^{\text{+}}{\text{] [A}}^{\text{-}}\text{]}}{\text{[HA]}}\end{array}$