What would a 0.12M solution of an acid that ionizes only slightly in solution be termed?

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What would a 0.12M solution of an acid that ionizes only slightly in solution be termed?

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Answer 1 · 2017-06-07T00:06:10

Regardless of its concentration, it is called a weak electrolyte. Weak electrolytes dissociate slightly in solution, i.e. they form few ions in solution for a given sample of solute.

(We thus expect the conductivity of this solution to be low.)

Since it is an acid, it is also a weak acid.

We thus describe this small dissociation, or ionization, using the acid dissociation constant,

$K_a = (["A"^(-)]["H"^(+)])/(["HA"])$

for the reaction

$"HA"(aq) rightleftharpoons "A"^(-)(aq) + "H"^(+)(aq)$ ,

and for weak acids, $K_a$ tends to be smaller than $1$ . For example, acetic acid has $K_a = 1.76 xx 10^(-5)$ .

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What would a 0.12M solution of an acid that ionizes only slightly in solution be termed?

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