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The strength of a weak acid is quantified by its acid dissociation constant, value. The strength of a weak organic acid may depend on substituent effects. The strength of an inorganic acid is dependent on the oxidation state for the atom to which the proton may be attached. Acid strength is solvent-dependent.
The Hammett acidity function (H 0) is a measure of acidity that is used for very concentrated solutions of strong acids, including superacids.It was proposed by the physical organic chemist Louis Plack Hammett [1] [2] and is the best-known acidity function used to extend the measure of Brønsted–Lowry acidity beyond the dilute aqueous solutions for which the pH scale is useful.
They were originally measured by using nitroanilines as weak bases or acid-base indicators and by measuring the concentrations of the protonated and unprotonated forms with UV-visible spectroscopy. [3] Other spectroscopic methods, such as NMR, may also be used. [2] [4] The function H − is defined similarly for strong bases:
In chemistry, an acid dissociation constant (also known as acidity constant, or acid-ionization constant; denoted ) is a quantitative measure of the strength of an acid in solution. It is the equilibrium constant for a chemical reaction
This Wikipedia page provides a comprehensive list of boiling and freezing points for various solvents.
The strength of a strong acid is limited ("leveled") by the basicity of the solvent. Similarly the strength of a strong base is leveled by the acidity of the solvent. When a strong acid is dissolved in water, it reacts with it to form hydronium ion (H 3 O +). [2] An example of this would be the following reaction, where "HA" is the strong acid:
An indicator may be used to obtain quite precise measurements of pH by measuring absorbance quantitatively at two or more wavelengths. The principle can be illustrated by taking the indicator to be a simple acid, HA, which dissociates into H + and A −. HA ⇌ H + + A −. The value of the acid dissociation constant, pK a, must be known.
As seen above, the strength of a base depends primarily on pH. To help describe the strengths of weak bases, it is helpful to know the percentage protonated-the percentage of base molecules that have been protonated. A lower percentage will correspond with a lower pH because both numbers result from the amount of protonation.