Answer to Question #112243 in General Chemistry for Lauren Barad

Question

Vinegar is a weak acid, which means that when placed in solution very few ions are produced. This makes the solution a weak conductor of electricity, thus its designation as week. Answer the following questions below based on vinegar’s, acetic acid, dissociation.

Reaction: CH3COOH(l)+ H2O(l) ⇋ CHCOO- (aq) + H3O+ (aq)

Would the potential energy of the reactants in this reaction be more than or less than the potential energy of the products?

Answer 1

Solution.

Since acetic acid is a weak electrolyte, and the dissociation constant is much less than one. Therefore, the potential energy of the products is less than the potential energy of the reagents.

Answer:

The potential energy of products is less than the potential energy of reagents.