This page was last updated on May 10, 2005
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Your goal here is to calculate Ka1 and Ka2 for fumaric and maleic acids, and to explain the behavior of the acid dissociation constants and titration curves in terms of the structures of the acids and their conjugate bases using Spartan.
Please give the usual brief intro and procedure sections in your report. In the procedure section be sure to mention how you came up with the values for pKa1 and pKa2 for each acid (i.e., how did you use Logger Pro do do this?) Also, don't forget to mention that you used Spartan.
Import your data into Excel and produce plots of the titration curves for fumaric and maleic acids. These should go in the results section, along with a table containing your experimental Ka values.
In the discussion section, compare your Ka values to the literature values in the lab write-up (include a properly formatted reference for this please!)
Model both acids and their conjugate bases using Spartan. Copy and paste the Spartan renderings into your report and use them in your discussion. Based on the structures and electrostatic charge plots of the (neutral) acids and their (mono) anions made using Spartan, propose an explanation for the difference in the appearance of the titration curves for fumaric and maleic acids. Remember the importance of resonance stability in anions in the weak acids lab from a couple weeks ago!