- #1
shrew
- 6
- 0
I've memorized the following:
pH<pka, then acidic form
pH>pka, then basic form
And I'm guessing that pH=pka means neutral.
However, my instincts tell me it would be the opposite. Take NH3, ammonia, with a pKa of around 40. And then there's NH2-, which from a google search, has an incredibly high pKa. These are both basic.
So what the above rules state, is that if you added an amount of one of the above bases into a solution with pH=0, pH=7, or pH=14... in all cases the above bases would be in their acid forms?
So they're bases yet they're going to be in their acidic forms... if practically every solvent you add them to will turn them into acids, how can they be thought of as bases?
pH<pka, then acidic form
pH>pka, then basic form
And I'm guessing that pH=pka means neutral.
However, my instincts tell me it would be the opposite. Take NH3, ammonia, with a pKa of around 40. And then there's NH2-, which from a google search, has an incredibly high pKa. These are both basic.
So what the above rules state, is that if you added an amount of one of the above bases into a solution with pH=0, pH=7, or pH=14... in all cases the above bases would be in their acid forms?
So they're bases yet they're going to be in their acidic forms... if practically every solvent you add them to will turn them into acids, how can they be thought of as bases?