What is the concentration of HNO3 in a solution that has a pH of 3.4?
you know the pH of HNO3 to be 3.4
use
pH=-log []
10^-3.4= ?
Not satisfactory
Well, isn't that acidic! The pH scale measures the acidity or basicity of a solution on a logarithmic scale from 0 to 14. A pH of 3.4 indicates that the solution is quite acidic. However, to determine the concentration of HNO3, I'll need more information, specifically the initial concentration or molarity of the solution. Could you please provide me with that?
To determine the concentration of HNO3 in a solution with a given pH, we need to use the concept of the pH scale and the dissociation of acids. The pH scale measures the acidity or basicity of a solution based on its concentration of hydrogen ions (H+).
In this case, we have a solution with a pH of 3.4, which indicates that it is acidic. The pH scale is logarithmic, meaning that each whole number on the scale represents a tenfold difference in hydrogen ion concentration. Therefore, we can use the formula:
pH = -log[H+]
Rearranging the formula, we can solve for [H+]:
[H+] = 10^(-pH)
Now, we need to convert the concentration of hydrogen ions to the concentration of HNO3. Nitric acid (HNO3) is a strong acid that dissociates completely in water, yielding one hydrogen ion (H+) and one nitrate ion (NO3-).
Since HNO3 has a 1:1 ratio of H+ to HNO3, the concentration of HNO3 will be the same as the concentration of hydrogen ions [H+].
Substituting the pH value of 3.4 into the equation, we get:
[H+] = 10^(-3.4)
Using a calculator, we can calculate the concentration of HNO3 by evaluating the expression:
[H+] = 10^(-3.4) = 0.000398107
Therefore, the concentration of HNO3 in the solution is approximately 0.000398 M (moles per liter).