A solution containing HCl and the weak acid HClOX2 has a pH of 2.4. Enough KOH(aq) is added to the solution to increase the
pH to 10.5. The amount of which of the following species increases as the KOH(aq) is added?
Approach
The strong base and acid will react and neutralize first:
KOH(aq)+HCl(aq)HX2O(l)+KX+(aq)+ClX−(aq)
Since the solution becomes alkaline, we can infer that more strong base is added. The base would react with HClOX2:
KOH(aq)+HClOX2(aq)HX2O(l)+KX+(aq)+ClOX2X−(aq)
Note that there are two reasonable options that increase in solution: ClX−(aq) and ClOX2X−(aq).
However, since we know that HCl is a stronger acid than HClOX2, the ClX− ions were already
present in solution throughout the process. On the other hand, most of the ClOX2X−(aq) ions did not dissociate from the weak acid at the start of the reactions. It is only after the strong base liberates the proton do ClOX2X−(aq) ions noticeably increase.