Wine Analysis Home

Dissociation constant

• A dissociation constant (K) indicates the extent to which a compound will dissociate or disolve, in solution, into its component parts.
  
  
• The value of a particular compound's dissociation constant will vary with temperature and pressure.
  
  
• The dissociation constant is calculated by multiplying the concentration of the dissociated species and dividing the result by the undisociated compound concentration, once equilibrium is reached at a given temperature and pressure.
  
  
• Examples of dissociation constants are the acid disassociation constant (K_a), and the water disassociation constant (K_w).