Under normal conditions what is the pH of a 1.0 mol/L solution of aqueous sodium hypochlorite?
Under normal conditions, sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) dissolves in water to form hypochlorite ions (ClO-) and sodium ions (Na+). The pH of a solution of sodium hypochlorite depends on the hydrolysis of the hypochlorite ions in water.
The hydrolysis of hypochlorite ions can be described by the following equation:
ClO- + H2O ⇌ HClO + OH-
The resulting hypochlorous acid (HClO) dissociates into hydrogen ion (H+) and hypochlorite ion (ClO-):
HClO ⇌ H+ + ClO-
Since both the hypochlorite ion (ClO-) and hypochlorous acid (HClO) are weak bases, they will react with water to form hydroxide ions (OH-) and the conjugate acid (HClO) or hydrogen ions (H+) and the conjugate base (ClO-).
In general, the pH of a 1.0 mol/L solution of aqueous sodium hypochlorite would be slightly basic, as the hydrolysis of hypochlorite ions produces hydroxide ions (OH-). However, the exact pH value would depend on the specific equilibrium constants of the hydrolysis reactions and the concentration of hydronium ions (H3O+) in the solution.