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The dissociation constant of formic acid and acetic acid are 2.14×10^-4 and 1.81×10^-5 respectively. What is the relative strength of the acids

Sagot :

Answer: The formic acid is 3.5 times stronger than acetic acid.

Explanation:

The strength of an acid depends on its acid dissociation constant.

For a hypothetical monoprotic acid HA, the dissociation equilibrium is:

[tex]HA\rightleftharpoons H^++A^-[/tex]

[tex]K_a=\frac{[H^+][A^-]}{[HA]}[/tex]

More is the value of [tex]K_a[/tex] , greater is the dissociation and stronger is the acid.

[tex]\frac{Strength_{\text {formic acid}}}{Strength_{\text {acetic acid}}}=\sqrt{\frac{2.14\times 10^{-4}}{1.81\times 10^{-5}}}=3.5[/tex]

Thus formic acid is 3.5 times stronger than acetic acid.