When Chlorine gas is used to disinfect drinking water, ithydrolyzes with the water to form hypochlorous acid (HOCl, pKa =7.54), which is a powerful disinfectant. However, when the aciddissociates to its conjugate base, it becomes a less effectivedisinfectant. The disinfection power of the acid is 88 times betterthan its conjugate base, OCl-, on a per-mole basis.
- Calculate the mass of hypochlorous acid you would need to addto 1 liter of water at pH = 13 to get the same disinfectant poweryou would get by adding 1 g HOCl to 1 liter of water at pH =2.0.
