Chapter 7, Problem 57E

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation: The pH of solution of acetylsalicylic acid from two aspirin tablets which contains 325 mg of acetylsalicylic acid/tablet and two tablets are used to make 237 mL of solution in enough water 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 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:

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