/sci/ - Science & Math

FUCK SLUT BITCH CUNT ASS DAMMIT

Alright guys, I've fucking had it with this. I love chemistry and all but this is just too god-damn much.

So I'm measuring these pHs and pKa values, right. And so, my professor says to me - she says - that you can ignore shit like sodium ions in sodium acetate because bigass positive ions don't contribute to acidity. That's all well and good, but here's the thing: I'm driving myself crazy with these calculations because apparently sodium acetate is MORE ACIDIC than the fucking acetate ion! How the hell is that supposed to work?

For anyone who knows chemistry, try the calculation and you'll see it plain as day. You can find the pKa of acetic acid anywhere online (it's 4.75, if you're curious) and derive the Ka value (which is 1.8E-5) to find the Kb of its basic ion, acetate. After you do all this crazy math shit, you can easily derive the pH of a 1M solution of acetate as 9.25. The math works out, then, right? Well, in the words of Kevin Spacey: WROOOOOOOOONG!

I measured the pH of sodium acetate using a very precise pH meter, and it came out to 8.85. Even looking around the Internet this doesn't seem to be a mistake; all the sites I've been to claim that the pH of your average 1M sodium acetate solution is nearly 8.9

What do you guys have to say about this? Does the sodium ion contribute to acidity, then? Am I getting too worked up over this? Of course I am, but it just pisses me off to go through the whole calculation of Kb via pH so that I can do the Kw/Kb = Ka thing only to finally end up with a pKa that is completely different from that off acetic acid.

Can someone explain special relativity and time dilation to me like I'm retarded?

So what, you can't see the clock ticking so that means it isn't?