Question #0760a

1 Answer
Sep 13, 2015

The pH of the solution is 8.7528.752

Explanation:

!! LONG ANSWER !!

Before doing anycalculations, make sure that you have a clear understanding of what goes on here.

You're titrating acetic acid, "CH"""_3"COOH"CH3COOH, a weak acid, with sodium hydroxide, "NaOH"NaOH, a strong base. Right from the start, this tells you that the pH of the solution at the equivalence point will not be equal to 77.

That happens because the weak acid will react with the strong base to form sodium acetate, "CH"""_3"COONa"CH3COONa, which exists as sodium cations and acetate anions, "CH"""_3"COO"^(-)CH3COO, in solution.

The acetate ion will then react with water to reform some acetic acid, producing hydroxide ions in the process.

This lets you know that the pH of the solution at equivalence point will be bigger than 77.

So, determine the volume of sodium hydroxide solution that you must add to reach equivalence point using the mole ratio that exists between sodium hydroxide and acetic acid

"CH"""_3"COOH"_text((aq]) + "NaOH"_text((aq]) -> "CH"""_3"COONa"_text((aq]) + "H"_2"O"_text((l])CH3COOH(aq]+NaOH(aq]CH3COONa(aq]+H2O(l]

Every mole of acetic acid requires 1 mole of sodium hydroxide and produces 1 mole of acetate ions.

C = n/V implies n = C * VC=nVn=CV

n_"acetic ac." = "0.100 M" * 25.00 * 10^(-3)"L" = "0.0025 moles"nacetic ac.=0.100 M25.00103L=0.0025 moles

At the equivalence point, you have

n_"NaOH" = n_"acetic ac." = "0.0025 moles"nNaOH=nacetic ac.=0.0025 moles

This means that you must add

V = n/C = "0.0025 moles"/"0.125 M" = "20.00 mL NaOH"V=nC=0.0025 moles0.125 M=20.00 mL NaOH

After the equivalence point is reached, your solution will have a total volume of

V_"total" = V_"acetic ac." + V_(NaOH)Vtotal=Vacetic ac.+VNaOH

V_"total" = 25.00 + 20.00 = "45.00 mL"Vtotal=25.00+20.00=45.00 mL

and contain 0.0025 moles of acetate ions, which were porduced by the neutralization reaction in accordance to the 1:11:1 mole ratio that exists between all the species involved.

The molarity of the acetate ions will be

["CH"_3"COO"^(-)] = "0.0025 moles"/(45.00 * 10^(-3)"L") = "0.05556 M"[CH3COO]=0.0025 moles45.00103L=0.05556 M

Use an ICE table to find the concentration of the hydroxide ions - all the species are in aqueous solution (except water), so I won't add the states for simplicity

"CH"_3"COO"^(-) + "H"_2"O" " "rightleftharpoons" " "CH"_3"COOH" + "OH"^(-)CH3COO+H2O CH3COOH+OH

color(purple)("I")" " "0.05556" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " 0" " " " " " " " " 0I 0.05556 0 0
color(purple)("C")" " ""(-x)" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "(+x)" " " " " " "(+x)C (x) (+x) (+x)
color(purple)("E")" " ""0.05556-x" " " " " " " " " " " " " " ""x" " " " " " " " " xE 0.05556x x x

Use the base dissociation constant, K_bKb, which you can find from

pK_b = 14 - pK_a = 14 - 4.76 = 9.24pKb=14pKa=144.76=9.24

K_b = 10^(-pK_b) = 10^(-9.24) = 5.75 * 10^(-10)Kb=10pKb=109.24=5.751010

By definition, K_bKb is equal to

K_b = (["CH"_3"COOH"] * ["OH"^(-)])/(["CH"_3"COO"^(-)]) = (x * x)/(0.05556 - x)Kb=[CH3COOH][OH][CH3COO]=xx0.05556x

Because K_bKb is so small, you can approximate (0.05556 - x)(0.05556x) with 0.055560.05556. This will get you

K_b = x^2/0.05556 implies x = sqrt(0.05556 * 5.75 * 10^(-10))Kb=x20.05556x=0.055565.751010

x = 5.65 * 10^(-6)x=5.65106

This means that you have

x = ["OH"^(-)] = 5.65 * 10^(-6)"M"x=[OH]=5.65106M

The pOHpOH of the solution will be

pOH = -log(["OH"^(-)]) = -log(5.65 *10^(-6)) = 5.248pOH=log([OH])=log(5.65106)=5.248

The pH of the solution will thus be

pH_"sol" = 14 - pOH = 14 - 5.248 = color(green)(8.752)pHsol=14pOH=145.248=8.752

As predicted, the pH of the solution is indeed bigger than 77.