In this exercise students will model the structures of monoprotic, diprotic,
triprotic acids, and their conjugate bases. Students will calculate the dipole moment,
molecular volume and surface area of each molecule and calculate the atomic charges
on each atom in the molecules. Students will look for correlations between the acids
pKa, its dipole moment and the atomic charges on the atoms closest to the
protonation/deprotonation site.
Keywords: Types of acids, polyprotic acids, equilibrium constant, molecular
modeling, dipole moment.
