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Given $$[HNO_{3}] = 4.53(10)^{-10},$$ find the pH of the acid. $K_{a}$ is not given, and it is at 25 degrees celsius.

Because the molarity is very low, as in less than 10^-6, the teacher tells us that the hydronium ions from water affect the pH, and so the pH is not exactly $-log(4.53(10)^{10})$. How do I calculate the pH then?

I remember the teacher creating a reaction based off of nitric acid and water, and that because nitric acid is a strong acid, that all the HNO3 would dissociate leading to [H3O+] = 4.53e-10, and then I tried putting this answer into the standard autoionization of water reaction (as 25 celsius), so $$10^{-14} = (4.53e-10 + x)x$$ solve for x, then pH would be -log(4.53e-10+x), but this creates an imaginary answer

Bob
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  • Let's not make this complicated. Because of the equilibrium shift: $$\ce{[H+] - [OH-] = [HNO3]}$$ – MaxW Nov 17 '23 at 06:38
  • The general equation is found in this answer https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/60068/how-to-set-up-equation-for-buffer-reaction/95566#95566 and in particular look at the answer in the comments which is https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/100346/calculate-ph-of-a-mixture-of-a-strong-base-and-acid-knowing-only-the-ph-wt-v/100355#100355 – porphyrin Nov 17 '23 at 17:13

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There are two possible questions here, which have very different answers.

Question 1 is what you actually posed here: What is the pH of a solution of nitric acid where $\ce{[HNO3]} = 4.53 \times \pu{10^{-10} M}$? The problem with question 1 is that it really cannot be solved without a pKa for nitric acid. To answer it, you have to know how much nitric acid to add to a solution so that $4.53 \times \pu{10^{-10} M}$ of the acid remains undissociated, and the answer is very sensitive to the pKa.

Question 2 is: what happens if $4.53 \times \pu{10^{-10} mol}$ of $\ce{HNO3}$ is dissolved in water? This question can be solved (approximately) even if all you know is that nitric acid is strong. The rough argument goes like this: Pure water has $\ce{[H+]} = \pu{10^{-7} M}$. Even if the acid fully dissociates, it will add only $\pu{4.53 \times 10^{-10} M}$ more protons, which is negligible (only 0.45% of the concentration already present) so the pH is still roughly 7. Feel free to do the calculation more precisely than that.

The problem is, in the resulting solution, $[\ce{HNO3}]$ is not $\pu{4.53 \times 10^{-10}}$, but actually much smaller, because nearly all of the acid has dissociated. So question 2 is actually very different from the question you've stated. That said, it might be the question your teacher intended to ask.

anon
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  • I believe the teacher had in mind the total concentration, for strong and many weak acids equal at given dilution to concentration of the conjugate base. – Poutnik Nov 17 '23 at 09:09