Home > Organic Chemistry > pH, pKa, Ka, pKb, Kb

How does Ka relate to acid strength?

Answer 1

#K_a# is the acid dissociation constant.

The #K_a# for #CH_3COOH# is #1.8xx10^-5# (in water).

It does not determine absolute acid strength, though, only relative (to the solvent), so keep that in mind. That aside, assuming we are using water as the solvent, acetic acid thus is considered a weak acid, with #pKa = 4.76# #(-logK_a = pK_a)#.

The higher #K_a# is, the more easily the acid dissociates, and the stronger it is (i.e. the weaker the base it is, and the less strongly its bonds are held together by electron donation).

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Answer 2

Madison Anderson

Ka is the acid dissociation constant, representing the extent of ionization of an acid in water. Higher Ka values indicate stronger acids.

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.