IChO 2008 · Theory problem 1

An acid solution with a damaged label

The label on a bottle containing a dilute aqueous solution of an acid became damaged. Only its concentration was readable. A \(pH\) meter was nearby, and a quick measurement showed that the hydrogen ion concentration is equal to the value on the label.

1.1 Give the formulae of four acids that could have been in the solution if the \(pH\) changed one unit after a tenfold dilution.

1.2 Could it be possible that the dilute solution contained sulfuric acid?

Sulfuric acid: \(pK_{a2}=1.99\)

☐ Yes  ☐ No

If yes, calculate the \(pH\) (or at least try to estimate it) and show your work.

1.3 Could it be possible that the solution contained acetic acid?

Acetic acid: \(pK_a=4.76\)

☐ Yes  ☐ No

If yes, calculate the \(pH\) (or at least try to estimate it) and show your work.

1.4 Could it be possible that the solution contained EDTA (ethylene diamino tetraacetic acid)? You may use reasonable approximations.

EDTA: \(pK_{a1}=1.70,\ pK_{a2}=2.60,\ pK_{a3}=6.30,\ pK_{a4}=10.60\)

☐ Yes  ☐ No

If yes, calculate the concentration.

Official English text of the problem.

Answers

  • 1.1 Four suitable examples are hydrochloric acid, \(\ce{HCl}\), Cl; hydrobromic acid, \(\ce{HBr}\), Br; hydroiodic acid, \(\ce{HI}\), I; and nitric acid, \(\ce{HNO3}\), O=[N+]([O-])O. The \(pH\) increases by one unit.
  • 1.2 No, for dilute sulfuric acid.
  • 1.3 Yes. At \(25^\circ\mathrm C\), \(\boxed{pH\approx6.25}\).
  • 1.4 Yes. \(\boxed{c(\text{EDTA})\approx7.1\times10^{-3}\ \mathrm{mol\,dm^{-3}}}\), corresponding to \(pH\approx2.15\).

Solution

Let \(C\) denote the analytical concentration of the acid and \(h=[\ce{H+}]\). The label and measurement give

\[ h=C. \]

The additional dilution condition belongs to 1.1. Parts 1.2–1.4 test the original equality.

Use ideal dilute-solution equilibria and, for numerical calculations involving water, the standard value at \(25^\circ\mathrm C\),

\[ K_{\mathrm w}=[\ce{H+}][\ce{OH-}] =1.0\times10^{-14}\ \mathrm{mol^2\,dm^{-6}}. \]

Here hydrogen ion, \(\ce{H+}\), has SMILES [H+]; hydroxide ion, \(\ce{OH-}\), [OH-]; and water, \(\ce{H2O}\), O. The notation \(\ce{H+}\) represents the aqueous proton; these SMILES do not depict its hydration.

1.1 — Four suitable acids

A strong monoprotic acid dissociates essentially completely. The four examples in the answer undergo

\[ \begin{aligned} \ce{HCl &-> H+ + Cl-},\\ \ce{HBr &-> H+ + Br-},\\ \ce{HI &-> H+ + I-},\\ \ce{HNO3 &-> H+ + NO3-}. \end{aligned} \]

The conjugate bases are chloride, [Cl-]; bromide, [Br-]; iodide, [I-]; and nitrate, [O-][N+](=O)[O-].

Provided water’s contribution is negligible both before and after dilution,

\[ [\ce{H+}]\approx C, \qquad [\ce{H+}]_{\text{diluted}}\approx\frac{C}{10}. \]

Consequently,

\[ \Delta pH =-\log_{10}\!\left( \frac{[\ce{H+}]_{\text{diluted}}}{[\ce{H+}]_{\text{initial}}} \right) =-\log_{10}\frac{1}{10} =\boxed{+1}. \]

Thus all four acids satisfy the observations to the usual strong-acid approximation.

1.2 — Sulfuric acid

Sulfuric acid, \(\ce{H2SO4}\), has SMILES OS(=O)(=O)O. Its ions are hydrogen sulfate, \(\ce{HSO4-}\), OS(=O)(=O)[O-], and sulfate, \(\ce{SO4^2-}\), [O-]S(=O)(=O)[O-].

In a dilute solution, the first dissociation is effectively complete:

\[ \ce{H2SO4 -> H+ + HSO4-}. \]

The second dissociation also produces hydrogen ions:

\[ \ce{HSO4- <=> H+ + SO4^2-}, \qquad K_{a2}=10^{-1.99}. \]

Neglecting undissociated sulfuric acid, the mass balance is

\[ C=[\ce{HSO4-}]+[\ce{SO4^2-}], \]

whereas electroneutrality requires

\[ h=[\ce{HSO4-}]+2[\ce{SO4^2-}]+[\ce{OH-}]. \]

Subtracting gives

\[ h-C=[\ce{SO4^2-}]+[\ce{OH-}]>0. \]

In particular, the finite second dissociation produces sulfate and additional hydrogen ions. Therefore \(h=C\) cannot hold in this dilute-solution model.

\[ \boxed{\text{No}} \]

1.3 — Acetic acid

Acetic acid, \(\ce{CH3COOH}\), has SMILES CC(=O)O; acetate, \(\ce{CH3COO-}\), has SMILES CC(=O)[O-].

The relevant equilibria are

\[ \ce{CH3COOH <=> H+ + CH3COO-} \]

and

\[ \ce{H2O <=> H+ + OH-}. \]

It is essential to retain water autoionization here. The mass and charge balances are

\[ C=[\ce{CH3COOH}]+[\ce{CH3COO-}] \]

and

\[ h=[\ce{CH3COO-}]+[\ce{OH-}]. \]

Imposing \(C=h\) gives

\[ [\ce{CH3COOH}]=[\ce{OH-}]=\frac{K_{\mathrm w}}{h}, \]

and hence

\[ [\ce{CH3COO-}]=h-\frac{K_{\mathrm w}}{h}. \]

Substituting into the acid-dissociation expression,

\[ K_a =\frac{h[\ce{CH3COO-}]}{[\ce{CH3COOH}]} =\frac{h\left(h-K_{\mathrm w}/h\right)}{K_{\mathrm w}/h}, \]

we obtain

\[ \boxed{h^3-K_{\mathrm w}h-K_aK_{\mathrm w}=0}. \]

With \(K_a=10^{-4.76}\), the positive physical root is

\[ h=C\approx5.64\times10^{-7}\ \mathrm{mol\,dm^{-3}}, \]

so

\[ \boxed{pH\approx6.25}. \]

A useful estimate follows by neglecting \(K_{\mathrm w}h\) in the cubic:

\[ h\approx(K_aK_{\mathrm w})^{1/3}, \]

giving

\[ pH\approx\frac{pK_a+pK_{\mathrm w}}{3} =\frac{4.76+14.00}{3} =6.253. \]

The numerical root also gives

\[ [\ce{CH3COOH}]=[\ce{OH-}] \approx1.77\times10^{-8}\ \mathrm{mol\,dm^{-3}}, \]

\[ [\ce{CH3COO-}] \approx5.46\times10^{-7}\ \mathrm{mol\,dm^{-3}}. \]

Thus the undissociated acid concentration exactly matches the hydroxide concentration, allowing the total hydrogen ion concentration to equal the analytical acid concentration.

\[ \boxed{\text{Yes}} \]

1.4 — EDTA

Write ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid as \(\ce{H4Y}\). Its conventional neutral structural SMILES is O=C(O)CN(CC(=O)O)CCN(CC(=O)O)CC(=O)O.

The successive equilibria are

\[ \begin{aligned} \ce{H4Y &<=> H+ + H3Y-},\\ \ce{H3Y- &<=> H+ + H2Y^2-},\\ \ce{H2Y^2- &<=> H+ + HY^3-},\\ \ce{HY^3- &<=> H+ + Y^4-}. \end{aligned} \]

Names and representative SMILES for the ions are:

Ion Name Representative SMILES
\(\ce{H3Y-}\) Trihydrogen edetate O=C(O)C[NH+](CC(=O)[O-])CC[NH+](CC(=O)[O-])CC(=O)[O-]
\(\ce{H2Y^2-}\) Dihydrogen edetate [O-]C(=O)C[NH+](CC(=O)[O-])CC[NH+](CC(=O)[O-])CC(=O)[O-]
\(\ce{HY^3-}\) Hydrogen edetate [O-]C(=O)CN(CC(=O)[O-])CC[NH+](CC(=O)[O-])CC(=O)[O-]
\(\ce{Y^4-}\) Edetate [O-]C(=O)CN(CC(=O)[O-])CCN(CC(=O)[O-])CC(=O)[O-]

EDTA has zwitterionic protonation microstates. The equilibrium symbols denote the total concentration at each protonation level; the given macroscopic \(pK_a\) values do not specify a unique proton arrangement.

Initially neglect the third and fourth dissociations and water autoionization; these approximations will be checked below. The mass balance becomes

\[ C=[\ce{H4Y}]+[\ce{H3Y-}]+[\ce{H2Y^2-}], \]

and the charge balance is

\[ h=[\ce{H3Y-}]+2[\ce{H2Y^2-}]. \]

Since \(h=C\), subtraction gives

\[ \boxed{[\ce{H4Y}]=[\ce{H2Y^2-}]}. \]

The first two dissociation constants satisfy

\[ K_{a1}=\frac{h[\ce{H3Y-}]}{[\ce{H4Y}]}, \qquad K_{a2}=\frac{h[\ce{H2Y^2-}]}{[\ce{H3Y-}]}. \]

Multiplying and using the equality above,

\[ K_{a1}K_{a2} =h^2\frac{[\ce{H2Y^2-}]}{[\ce{H4Y}]} =h^2. \]

Therefore

\[ pH=\frac{pK_{a1}+pK_{a2}}{2} =\frac{1.70+2.60}{2} =2.15. \]

As \(C=h\),

\[ C=10^{-2.15}\ \mathrm{mol\,dm^{-3}} \approx\boxed{7.1\times10^{-3}\ \mathrm{mol\,dm^{-3}}}. \]

The neglected dissociations are indeed small:

\[ \frac{[\ce{HY^3-}]}{[\ce{H2Y^2-}]} =\frac{K_{a3}}{h} =10^{-6.30+2.15} \approx7.1\times10^{-5}, \]

\[ \frac{[\ce{Y^4-}]}{[\ce{HY^3-}]} =\frac{K_{a4}}{h} =10^{-10.60+2.15} \approx3.5\times10^{-9}. \]

Also,

\[ [\ce{OH-}]=\frac{K_{\mathrm w}}{h} \approx1.4\times10^{-12}\ \mathrm{mol\,dm^{-3}}, \]

which is negligible. The approximation is therefore fully adequate.

\[ \boxed{\text{Yes}} \]

The solution was checked against the official solution.