Ka's

[Mae16]

super basic question:

what state are acids and bases in when they're dissolving in solution? I'm assuming they're almost always aqueous because I see them in the denominator of ka and kb equations -- and we leave pure solids and liquids out of those.

for instance, the ka for for a generic acid HA
is [H][A]/[HA] ... right? Is this the way it is for all acids and bases? for some reason, I feel like you don't usually see the HA in the denominator, but it just occured to me that it must be there, given that I don't think HA is a pure solid or liquid.

thanks!

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[matth87]

super basic question:

what state are acids and bases in when they're dissolving in solution? I'm assuming they're almost always aqueous because I see them in the denominator of ka and kb equations -- and we leave pure solids and liquids out of those.

for instance, the ka for for a generic acid HA
is [H][A]/[HA] ... right? Is this the way it is for all acids and bases? for some reason, I feel like you don't usually see the HA in the denominator, but it just occured to me that it must be there, given that I don't think HA is a pure solid or liquid.

thanks!

Yup that right. Usually you will see it in the (l) as HA and (aq) as H+ and A-

Ka = [H+][A-]/[HA]