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Well...zero isn't really the lowest number on the pH scale. To simplify things, we teach kids that the scale goes from 0-14, but in reality, a solution can have a negative pH. The pH is the negative log of the hydrogen concentration or -log[H+]. So for -log[H+] to be negative, log[H+] has to be positive; therefore, [H+] would have to be greater than one. A solution that has a negative pH is extremely acidic!

For example, a solution with a hydrogen concentration of 2.2 M would have a pH of -log[2.2] = -0.342

The reason we use 0-14 in abstraction is because pH + pOH = 14

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14y ago

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