The conjugate base of an acid remains after the acid has donated what?

1 Answer
May 21, 2017

proton

Explanation:

According to the Bronsted-Lowry proton transfer rule 'an acid will transfer it's acidic proton to the conjugate base of a weaker acid'.

#HA + B^- => HB + A^-#
HB is a weaker acid than HA. #B^-# is the conjugate base of HB and #A^-# is the conjugate base of HA.

When comparing acidities, the weaker acid will have the smaller acid ionization constant #K_a# and its anion base is the stronger conjugate base which bonds more strongly with the transferred proton.