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What does the term pH mean?

Updated: 12/10/2022
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15y ago

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pH is the measure of the acidity or alkalinity pH means the power of Hydrogen. It is 'minus the decimal logarithm of the hydrogen ion activity in an aqueous solution'. The term was coined by Sørensen, it measures the alkalinity or acidity of a liquid. pH is a measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions [H+] in a solution. The concentration of the hydrogen ions is measured in Molarity (M), or moles of H+ ions per liter of solution. The pH is then expressed as the negative log (base ten) of the hydrogen ion concentration. pH = -log[H+] For example, if a solution has a hydrogen ion concentration of 4.75 x 10-5 M (or 4.75 x 10-5 moles of H+ ions per liter of solution), then the pH of the solution would be -log[4.75 x 10-5] = 4.323 pH is generally given on a scale from 0-14, with 0 being the most acidic solution (like HCl) and 14 being the most basic solution (for example, NaOH.), although extreme values may sometimes fall outside that range. Pure water has a pH of 7 because its H+ concentration is 1.0 x 10-7 M -log[1.0 x 10-7] = 7

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Q: What does the term pH mean?
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