pH partition is the tendency for
acids to accumulate in basic
fluid compartments, and
bases to accumulate in acidic compartments. The reason for this phenomenon is that acids become negatively
electric charge
Electric charge is the physical property of matter that causes charged matter to experience a force when placed in an electromagnetic field. Electric charge can be ''positive'' or ''negative'' (commonly carried by protons and electrons respecti ...
d in basic fluids, since they donate a
proton. On the other hand, bases become positively electric charged in acid fluids, since they receive a proton. Since electric charge decrease the
membrane permeability of substances, once an acid enters a basic fluid and becomes electrically charged, then it cannot escape that compartment with ease and therefore accumulates, and vice versa with bases.
See also
*
Ion trapping
*
Acid dissociation constant
In chemistry, an acid dissociation constant (also known as acidity constant, or acid-ionization constant; denoted ) is a quantitative measure of the strength of an acid in solution. It is the equilibrium constant for a chemical reaction
: ...
- pK
a
*
Henderson-Hasselbalch equation
Acid–base chemistry
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