ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the basis for and implementation of spreadsheet programs to calculate equilibrium concentrations of reactants and products for situations ranging from pure water to solutions containing a monoprotic strong acid, a monoprotic strong base, and any or all forms of up to three monoprotic weak acids. It begins with a description of titration curves, including titrations of mixtures of three weak acids with sodium hydroxide and mixtures of three weak bases with hydrochloric acid. The discussion then continues with descriptions of the basis for charge-balance equations used to do the calculations and spreadsheet programs used to implement the calculations without correction for effects of ionic strength. It continues with a discussion of concepts and procedures used to account for effects of ionic strength and selected applications, including effects of ionic strength on titration curves and buffer performance. The discussion then continues with illustrations of distribution plots, i.e., plots of concentration fractions vs. pH. The chapter concludes with a more detailed discussion of the program used to plot multiple titration curves on each figure, including scenarios to illustrate effects of concentration on titration curves for strong acids, strong bases, weak acids, and weak bases.
