A new potential heart medicine, code-named X-281, is being tested by a pharmaceu

Question

A new potential heart medicine, code-named X-281, is being tested by a pharmaceutical company, Pharma-pill. As a research technician at Pharma-pill, you are told that X-281 is a monoprotic weak acid, but because of security concerns, the actual chemical formula must remain top secret. The company is interested in the drug's Ka value because only the dissociated form of the chemical is active in preventing cholesterol buildup in arteries.

To find the pKa of X-281, you prepare a 0.083M test solution of X-281. The pH of the solution is determined to be 3.00. What is the pKa of X-281?

Explanation / Answer

Let the weak acid be HA C(1-x) <-----> H+ (cx) + A - (cx) Ka= cx cx/c(1-x) since it is a very weak acid let us neglect x in comparision to one. Then Ka = 10^-3 x 10^-3 / 0.092 = 1.086 x 10 -5 PKa=5.96.You can also do the problem without neglecting x in comparison to one for best results.

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