Getting up to speed in thermochemistry
Thermochemistry is all about the energy changes that happen alongside chemical reactions. Chemical reactions either release heat (exothermic) or
Category: Physical chemistry
How to choose an indicator for an acid-base titration
An indicator is used to follow the progress of an acid-base titration and the end point of the reaction is
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How to explain the shape of a titration curve
1. Strong acid – strong base titrations Imagine we are titrating a strong acid such as hydrochloric acid against a
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What is a buffer and how do I calculate its pH?
A buffer is defined as a solution that is able to resist changes in pH when small amounts of acid
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How to calculate the pH of a base
Once again, we can assume that strong bases are fully dissociated in solution so the concentration of OH– is the
How to calculate the pH of strong acids and weak acids
The strength of an acid (HA) is determined by its ability to donate protons or H+ ions to water. The [H+(aq)]
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What is the ionic product of water?
Water self-ionises – essentially it reacts with itself to very small extent. We know this because even pure water has
What are conjugate acid-base pairs?
We should start by appreciating that in reality many acid-base reactions are equilibrium reactions, even if it doesn’t appear obvious
How to define an acid or a base?
At GCSE we defined acids as substances that ionised in water to give hydrogen ions, and an alkali dissolved in
Atomic absorption and emission spectroscopy
How can we possibly know what elements are present in the stars? It’s not like we can nip off and