Calculations for Polyprotic Weak Acids

Because Ka1/Ka2 is usually > 105, we can treat successive ionizations as separate steps. Solve the first one, then use the results from it to solve the second. We won’t worry too much about these calculations, except to illustrate the result of such a wide difference in ionization constants.

Because Ka1/Ka2 is usually > 105, we can treat successive ionizations as separate steps. Solve the first one, then use the results from it to solve the second. We won’t worry too much about these calculations, except to illustrate the result of such a wide difference in ionization constants.