Microorganisms are grown in laboratory bioreactors to study their effectiveness in destroying hazardous organic compounds. Ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) is a soluble salt that is often added to the reactor to provide a source of the nutrient nitrogen to the microorganisms. Consider a 2L closed vessel that is half filled with otherwise pure water. A quantity of 500 mg of ammonium chloride is completely dissolved in the water. Some of the ammonium ions (NH4+) dissociate toform ammonia (NH3) and liberate a proton (H+). Some of the ammonia molecules escape into the gas phase. Required:
a. Set up a system of equations that you could use to solve for the equilibrium pH of the water.
b. Calculate the equilibrium pH.