Home > Community > What is the chemical equation when acetic acid and sodium acetate is combined with hydrochloric acid?
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+ Sodium acetate
+ Acetic acid
+ Acids
+ Chemistry
+ Organic chemistry
+ Hydrochloric acid
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Nancy Rubenstein

What is the chemical equation when acetic acid and sodium acetate is combined with hydrochloric acid?

AFZAAL AGHA  Follow

Yes. Acetic acid (CH3COOH) has a pH of 2.4, while Hydrochloric acid (HCl) has a pH of 1.1. In case you are new to the pH scale, lower numbers are more acidic.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,

Eric

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Deevan Dilpat Rai  Follow

When I read your question I wonder if you are doing a buffer problem

An acidic buffer with pH ≈ 4.5 is prepared by mixing equimolar quantities of acetic acid and sodium acetate. You can adjust the pH of the original buffer by changing the ratio CH3COOH : CH3COONa, within limits. If you have a higher ratio of the acetic acid , you lower the pH of the buffer , and if you have a higher ratio of the sodium acetate, you raise the pH of the buffer. The pH of the buffer is calculated using the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation. I trust that you are familiar with this.

The purpose of the buffer solution is to resist a change of pH when a small quantity of a strong acid or base is added to the buffer.

The question you are asked is , what is the pH when HCl is added to a CH3COOH /CH3COONa buffer. Quantities of the components are given.

What happens chemically is that on adding the HCl , you introduce a high concentration of H+ ions. This would lower the pH. But in a buffer solution this does not happen to a great extent . How does this work? The HCl reacts with the CH3COONa in solution to produce CH3COOH and NaCl . The NaCl is neutral ( no pH change) and the CH3COOH produced is a weak acid that dissociates slightly.

The [CH3COOH] in the buffer has increased and the [CH3COONa] in the buffer has decreased. There is only a small increase in H+ ions and the pH does not change much.

You ask for an equation:

CH3COONa + HCl → CH3COOH + NaCl.

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