Society
for Amateur Scientists
Measuring Acidity and Alkalinity| |
|
|
|
|
Society
for Amateur Scientists
Measuring Acidity and Alkalinity |
||
|
|||
|
|
|
Related Products: Society for Amateur Scientists
|
Sponsored by:
|
Measuring Acidity and Alkalinity Acids are compounds which break into hydrogen (H+) ions and another compound when placed in an aqueous solution. Bases are compounds which break up into Hydroxide (OH-) ions and another compound when placed in an aqueous solution. pH is just a handy way to express how acidic or alkaline a water solution is. The pH of a solution is the negative log of the hydrogen ion concentration. Technically, pH is a logarithmic measure of hydrogen ion concentration, originally defined by Danish biochemist S¿ren Peter Lauritz S¿rensen in 1909: pH = -log[H+] where log is a base-10 logarithm and [H+] is the concentration of hydrogen ions in moles per liter of solution. The "p" stands for the German word for "power", potenz, so pH is an abbreviation for "power of hydrogen" One simple way to measure pH
is with specially made indicator paper. pH paper is available through
most scientific supply outlets. When measuring pH with pH paper, dip the
end of a strip of pH paper into each mixture you want to test. After about
two seconds, remove the paper, and immediately compare the color at the
wet end of the paper with the color chart below, or use the one provided
on the pH indicator package. Always use a clean, unused strip of pH paper
for each mixture that you test.
|
