Question #0e3ac

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Ernest Z.
Aug 8, 2017

Here's what I get.

Citric acid ("H"_3"Cit") is a weak tricarboxylic acid with the chemical formula "C"_6"H"_8"O"_7.

Although the degree of dissociation depends on concentration, a reasonable rule of thumb is that citric acid is about 8 % ionized.

Thus, if you start with 1 mol of "H"_3"Cit", the equilibrium solution will contain about "0.92 mol H"_3"Cit, 0.08 mol H"^"+", and "0.08 mol H"_2"Cit"^"-".

Thus 1 mol of "H"_3"Cit" produces 1.08 mol of "particles".

"K"_2"HPO"_4 is an ionic substance.

It dissociates completely in solution:

"K"_2"HPO"_4"(aq)" → "2K"^"+""(aq)" + "HPO"_4^"-""(aq)"

The hydrogen phosphate ion is such a weak acid that we can ignore its ionization.

Thus 1 mol of "K"_2"HPO"_4" produces 3 mol of "particles" in solution.

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