What is citric acid? How does it ionize?
1 Answer
Mar 26, 2015
See below.
Explanation:
Citric acid is a weak tribasic acid.
It loses the acidic hydrogen atoms in three separate steps.
-
#"H"_3"C"_6"H"_5"O"_7 + "H"_2"O" ⇌ "H"_3"O"^+ + "H"_2"C"_6"H"_5"O"_7^"-"; "p"K_text(a1) =3.25# -
#"H"_2"C"_6"H"_5"O"_7^"-" + "H"_2"O" ⇌ "H"_3"O"^+ + "HC"_6"H"_5"O"_7^"2-";color(white)(l) "p"K_text(a2) =4.77# -
#"HC"_6"H"_5"O"_7^"2-" + "H"_2"O" ⇌ "H"_3"O"^+ + "C"_6"H"_5"O"_7^"3-"; color(white)(ml)"p"K_text(a3) =5.19#
