What does the ka represent in the equation and why is it important?

The acid dissociation constant, also called the acid-ionization constant, represents the equilibrium constant of a given chemical reaction, which is denoted by the symbol Ka.

It gives the measure of the acidic strength of a chemical substance or the dissociation of an acid in a solution and is represented as the ratio of concentrations of product and the reactants, at equilibrium.

the law of conservation of mass states that in a chemical reaction, the total mass of reactants is equal to the total mass of products. because atoms are only rearranged in a chemical reaction, there must be the same number of sodium atoms and chlorine atoms in both the reactants and products