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pH, pka & Ionization

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I need help with the following correlation: In the simplest terms possible, please.
Describe how one would use the concepts of pH and pka to predict the ionization state of any given amino acid or its side chain in a protein.

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Solution Summary

This solution describes the structure of an amino acid and how pH and pka can be used to predict the ionization state.

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Hi

Amino acids have (as I assume you know) of at least an alpha carboxyl group and an alpha amino group (see http://www.chemie.fu-berlin.de/chemistry/bio/amino-acids_en.html for the chemical and structural formulae for the amino acids). Some more complex amino acids have additional carboxyl, amino, or other ionizable side chains. The pKa for a given side group in each amino acid represents the pH at which a single dissociable hydrogen ion on the group is released from the amino acid. In the case of the alpha carboxyl group, the loss of a hydrogen results in a negative charge, whereas in the alpha ...

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