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pH


You may have heard the term 'pH-balanced' on T.V., and may be aware that pH refers to acidity or basicity. The expression pH relates to the H3O+ concentration.

Before giving the formula to convert pH to [H3O+], several examples will be given to provide you with an intuitive feel for the concept.

pH[H3O+]
10.1acidic
20.01acidic
30.001acidic
40.0001acidic
51.0 x 10-5acidic
61.0 x 10-6acidic
71.0 x 10-7neutral
81.0 x 10-8basic
91.0 x 10-9basic
101.0 x 10-10basic
111.0 x 10-11basic
121.0 x 10-12basic
131.0 x 10-13basic
141.0 x 10-14basic


pH = - log [H3O+]

If you want to determine the pH for a solution that has a H3O+ concentration of 0.035 M, do the following:
  1. Type '0.035' into your calculator.
  2. Press the 'log' key.
  3. Press the '+/-' key.
  4. pH = 1.45 approximately
If you want to determine the concentration of H3O+ for a solution that has a pH of 1.5, do the following:
  1. Type '1.5' into your calculator.
  2. To access the antilog function, you will probably need to press a 'shift' or '2nd' key and then hit 'log'.





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Last Revised 02/03/98.
Copyright ©1998 by William L. Dechent. All rights reserved.