What does Ka stand for?

1 Answer
anor277
Jul 22, 2016

#K_a# is the acid dissociation constant, which are extensively tabulated for weak acids.

Explanation:

For an acid, #HA#, in water, we can represent its dissociation in this way:

#HA + H_2O rightleftharpoons H_3O^+ + A^-#

Typically, we can quantify this equilibrium under standard conditions.

#K_a = ([H_3O^+][A^-])/([HA])#

And thus for strong acids, for which the equilibrium lies to the right, we can deduce that #K_a# is large.

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