BCH 202: General Biochemistry II (2 Units C: LH 30)

Course Contents

Acidity and alkalinity, pH and pKa values and their effects on cellular activities

An acid is defined as a substance that releases protons or hydrogen ions (H+), e.g. hydrochloric

acid (HCI), carbonic acid (H2CO3).

HCl H+ + Cl-

H2CO3 H+ + HCO3-

• A base is a substance that accepts protons or hydrogen ions, e.g. bicarbonate ion (HCO), and

HPO42–,

HCO3- + H+ H2CO3

HPO42- + H+ H2PO4-

Proteins in the body also function as bases, because some of the amino acids accept hydrogen

ions, e.g. hemoglobin in red blood cells and plasma protein especially albumin are the most

important of the body’s bases.

Measure of Acidity and Alkalinity (pH Scale)

The strength of an acid or an alkali is shown using a scale of numbers called the "pH scale",

measured by a device called the "pH meter". The pH scale ranges from 0 -14, with 7 being the

point of neutrality. pH (Hydrogen potentials) is a measure of the hydrogen ion concentration in a

solution and can be defined as "the negative logarithm(to base 10) of the H+ concentration in a

solution".

pH = -log10 [H3O]+ pH = log10 [H]+

pH = -log10 [1/H3O]+ pH = log10 [1/H]+

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A solution with a pH value of 7 is neutral, 1.e., neither acidic nor alkaline. A solution with a pH

value less than 7 is acidic, while one with a pH value of more than 7 is alkaline. Thus, acidity

increases as the pH value decrease below 7, while alkalinity increases as the pH value increase

above 7.

For example, a solution with a pH of 6.2 is weakly acidic when compared with another solution

of pH 2.5, which will be strongly acidic.

pH is the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentrations.

pH = -log10[H+] or -log[H3O+]

Note that because the pH is based on negative logarithms, low pH values represent the highest

H+ concentrations (and the lowest OH- concentrations).

pKw = pH + pOH

  

The pH scale is widely used in biological applications because hydrogen ion concentrations in

biological fluids are very low, about 10-7 M or 0.0000001 M, a value more easily represented as

pH 7. The pH of blood plasma, for example, is 7.4, or 0.00000004 M H+. Certain disease

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conditions may lower the plasma pH level to 6.8 or less, a situation that may result in death. At

pH 6.8, the H+ concentration is 0.00000016 M, four times greater than at pH 7.4.

At pH 7, [H+] = [OH-]; that is, there is no excess acidity or basicity. The point of neutrality is at

pH 7, and solutions having a pH of 7 are said to be at neutral pH. The pH values of various

fluids of biological origin or relevance are given below.

Fluid pH

Pancreatic fluid 7.8 – 8.0

Blood plasma 7.4

Liver 6.9

Muscle 6.1

Saliva 6.6

Urine 5-8

Because the pH scale is a logarithmic scale, two solutions whose pH values differ by 1 pH unit

have a tenfold difference in [H+]. For example, grapefruit juice at pH 3.2 contains more than 12

times as much H+ as orange juice at pH 4.3.

Strong Electrolytes

Substances that are almost completely dissociated to form ions in solution are called strong

electrolytes (dissociate completely in water). The term electrolyte describes substances capable

of generating ions in solution and thereby causing an increase in the electrical conductivity of the

solution. Many salts (such as NaCl and K2SO4) fit this category, as do strong acids (such as HCl)

and strong bases (such as NaOH). Recall from general chemistry that acids are proton donors and

bases are proton acceptors. In effect, the dissociation of a strong acid such as HCl in water can be

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treated as a proton transfer reaction between the acid HCl and the base H2O to give the

conjugate acid H3O+ and the conjugate base Cl-

HCl + H2O H3O+ + Cl-

The equilibrium constant for this reaction is

Customarily, because the term [H2O] is essentially constant in dilute aqueous solutions, it is

incorporated into the equilibrium constant K to give a new term, Ka, the acid dissociation

constant, where Ka = k [H2O]. Also, the term [H3O+] I often replaced by H+, such that

For HCl, the valu of Ka is exceedingly large because the concentration of HCl in aqueous

solution is extremely small. Therefore, the p of HCl solutions is readily calculated from the

amount of HCl used to make the solution:

[H+] in solution = [HCl] added to solution

Thus, a 1 M solution of HCl has a pH of 0; a 1 mM HCl solution has a pH of 3. Similarly, 0.1 M

NaOH soltion solution has a pH of 13 (because [OH-] = 0.1 M, [H+] must be 10-13 M). Note that,

ions formed in the dissociation of strong electrolytes show little affinity for each other. For

example, in HCl in water, Cl- has very little affinity for H+;

HCl H+ + Cl-

And in NaOH solutios, Na+ has little affinity for OH-. The dissociation of these substances in

water is effectively complete.

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Weak Electrolytes

Substances with only a slight tendency to dissociate to form ions in solution are called weak

electrolytes (substances that dissociate only slightly in water). Acetic acid, CH3COOH, is a good

example:

The acid dissociation constant Ka for acetic acid is 1.74 x 10-5 M

Ka is aslo termed an ionization constant because it states the eextent to which a substance forms

ions in water. The relatively low value of Ka for acetic acid reveals that the un-ionized form,

CH3COOH, predominates over H+ and CH3COO- in aqueous solutions of acetic acid (i.e. the

CH3COO-, acetic ion, has a high affinity for H+.

Worked Example

What is the pH of a solution containing;

(a) 0.01 mole per dm3 of HCl?

(b) 0.01 mole per dm3 of H2SO4?

Solution

a. To find the pH of 0.01 mol/dm3 HCl.

HCl(aq) is a strong acid, it is completely ionized in water:

HCl(g) + H2O H3O+(aq) + Cl-(aq)

1 mol 1 mol

From the above equation:

1 mol of HCI gives 1 mol of H3O+ ions;

Thus, 0.01 mol of HCl gives 0.01 mol H3O+ ions.

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Hence, [H3O]+ = 0.01 mol/dm3

= 1.0 x 10-2 or 10-2 mol/dm3

Since pH = -log[H30]+,

Then, pH= -log(10-2)

= -(-2)

=2

b. To find the pH of 0.01 mol/dm3 H2SO4.

H2SO4 is a strong acid; it is completely ionized in water:

H2SO4(aq) + 2H2O 2H3O+(aq) + SO42-(aq)

1 mol 2 mol

From the above equation:

1 mol of H2SO4 gives 2 mol of H3O+

Thus, 0.01 mol of H2SO4 gives 2 x 0.01 mol of H3O+ = 0.02 mol

Hence, [H3O]+ = 0.02 mol/dm3

= 2.0 x 10-2mol/dm3

Since pH = -log [H3O]+,

then pH = -log (2.0 x 10-2)

= - [0.301 + (-2)]

= - [0.301 - 2]

= - [-1.699]

pH = 1.699

= 1.70 (3 sig. fig.)

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NOTE:

 0.01 mol/dm3 H2SO4 is more acidic than 0.01 mol/dm3 HCl. This is because H2SO4 is dibasic

while HCI is monobasic. Thus, the higher the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution, the

more acidic the solution.

 pH can also be calculated from the dissociation constant of water (Kw) which is numerically

equal to 14.

Kw = pH + pOH

Thus, pH = Kw – pOH

- pH of strong acid or base does not depend upon temperature.

- pH of weak acid decreases with increase in temperature due to increase in ionization.

- pH of weak base increases with increase in temperature due to increase in ionization or [OH-]

ion concentration.

ASSIGNMENT

Calculate the pH of 0.005 mol/dm3 tetraoxosulphate (vi).

Calculate the OH- concentration of 0.01 M tetraoxosulphate (vi) acid solution.

A glass cup of orange juice is found to have pOH of 11.40. Calculate the concentration of the

hydrogen ions in the juice.