The Carbonate Species and Their Acid-Base Equilibria

The Carbonate Species and Their Acid-Base Equilibria 

The various components of the carbonate system are interrelated by the following equilibria. (For the moment we will neglect the equilibria between carbonate species and metal ions and the involvement of 

When we are presented with a problem involving the carbonate system, we must first make a decision concerning the nature of the system. This step is important because carbonate species can be involved in homogeneous solution equilibria as well as heterogeneous gas/liquid and liquid/solid equilibria. We must examine our system to see whether it can be treated as 

The use of simple sketches helps us to decide the nature of our system. For example, 

A water sample containing carbonate species is titrated with a strong acid. During titration the sample is warmed and vigorously bubbled with air to equilibrate the sample with the atmosphere. 

---