What happens if sodium acetate (CH3COONa) is added to the following reaction?

CH3COOH  H+ + CH3COO-
a) [H+] increases
b) [H+] decreases
c) a precipitate is formed
d) [H+] does not change

Le Chatelier's Principle says that when a system in equilibrium is disturbed that the system will try to undo what we've done to it.

So if you add acetate to it the system will try to use it. How can it do that. By shifting to the left. That increases the CH3COOH and it decreases H^+.

When sodium acetate (CH3COONa) is added to the reaction CH3COOH ⇌ H+ + CH3COO-, it will increase the concentration of the CH3COO- ions. This is because sodium acetate dissociates in water to release CH3COO- ions.

To understand why this happens, let's break down the reaction and explain how to find the answer.

The written reaction CH3COOH ⇌ H+ + CH3COO- indicates that acetic acid (CH3COOH) is partially ionized in water to produce hydrogen ions (H+) and acetate ions (CH3COO-).

When sodium acetate (CH3COONa) is added to the reaction, it dissociates completely into sodium ions (Na+) and acetate ions (CH3COO-) in water. Since the concentration of acetate ions is increased, the equilibrium of the reaction will shift to the left to decrease the concentration of acetate ions, according to Le Chatelier's principle.

As a result, the concentration of hydrogen ions (H+) will decrease, and [H+] will decrease.

Therefore, the correct answer is b) [H+] decreases.

If sodium acetate (CH3COONa) is added to the reaction CH3COOH ⇌ H+ + CH3COO-, the acetate ion (CH3COO-) will react with H+ ions to form acetic acid (CH3COOH). This reaction is driven by Le Chatelier's principle, which states that when a stress is applied to a system at equilibrium, the system will adjust in such a way as to reduce the stress and restore equilibrium.

In this case, the addition of sodium acetate introduces additional acetate ions (CH3COO-) to the system. According to Le Chatelier's principle, the system will shift towards the formation of more H+ ions to restore equilibrium. Therefore, option a) [H+] increases is the correct answer.