Include a brief (fewer than 4 sentences) explanation for each of the following:
ID: 499774 • Letter: I
Question
Include a brief (fewer than 4 sentences) explanation for each of the following: Compare the addition of a strong acid to water and the addition of a strong acid to a buffer. Suggest reasons for any differences. Describe the effect of diluting a buffer. What happens when you dilute an acid? Upon sufficient dilution, what would you predict the final pH to be on the pH scale (1 to 14)? In both words and in terms of a mathematical equation, describe the relationship between pH and the ratio of conjugate base to acid concentration. Compare what the plots of [conj. base]/[conj. acid] vs. pH and log([conj. base]/[conj. acid]) vs. pH tell you.Explanation / Answer
adding a strong acid such as HCl to water results in the reaction HCl + H2O H3O+ + Cl-. In other words, the proton (H+) from the acid binds to neutral water molecules to form H3O+ raising the concentration of H+. The resulting large concentration of (H+) makes the solution more acidic and leads to a dramatic drop in the pH.
If a strong acid is added to a buffer, the weak base will react with the H+ from the strong acid to form the weak acid HA: H+ + A- HA. The H+ gets absorbed by the A- instead of reacting with water to form H3O+ (H+), so the pH changes only slightly.