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ONLINE REFRESHER COURSE IN CHEMISTRY FOR HIGHER EDUCATION FACULTY (2018)
@ SWAYAM.GOV.IN
________________________________________________________________________
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Module 9: ChemMisconception: pH
(Page 2 of 8)
ONLINE REFRESHER COURSE IN CHEMISTRY FOR HIGHER EDUCATION FACULTY (2018)
@ SWAYAM.GOV.IN
________________________________________________________________________
1. Introduction
While studying chemistry one comes across many concepts. A good understanding
of all these concepts is very essential if you want to excel both as a teacher as well
as researcher. However, our experience shows that there are many concepts about
which there are some doubts to the learners or there are some confusions. So in
the modules entitled “ChemMisconception” in all refresher programs in chemistry,
we will be talking about some common misconceptions in chemistry. The purpose
will be to highlight the misconception and remove the doubts or confusions there in .
2. What is pH?
The word pH stands for “power of hydrogen”. This term was coined by Danish
biochemist Sorenson in the year 1906. pH is always in the context of an aqueous
solution. pH for an aqueous solution is a measure of its acidity or basicity. pH is a
numerical scale whose range varies from 0 to 14 at 25oC.
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ONLINE REFRESHER COURSE IN CHEMISTRY FOR HIGHER EDUCATION FACULTY (2018)
@ SWAYAM.GOV.IN
________________________________________________________________________
One needs to know that logarithm is defined for a number (a constant numeric
value without units or dimensions) but here we express logarithm of a concentration
term (with units). And this concentration refers to the physical amount present in the
solution. It is usually measured in grams or moles per unit volume and can be easily
calculated.
A more precise definition of pH is:
!
𝑝𝐻 = log!" ! = −𝑙𝑜𝑔!" (𝑎! ! )
!!
Module 9: ChemMisconception: pH
(Page 4 of 8)
ONLINE REFRESHER COURSE IN CHEMISTRY FOR HIGHER EDUCATION FACULTY (2018)
@ SWAYAM.GOV.IN
________________________________________________________________________
Actual definition still involves activity; so this is one point which one needs to be very clear
about and one can see that for dilute aqueous solution, once gamma is one, pH is equal to
minus log activity of hydrogen ions and activity is now replaced by concentration of
hydrogen ions.
For dilute aqueous solutions, the pH varies from zero to fourteen as shown below:
4. Can pH be negative?
Is negative pH for any aqueous solution possible? Yes, in principle it is possible but
negative pH has only a theoretical significance.
How does negative pH come?
From the equation for pH for any solution, which is having concentration of hydrogen ions
greater than 1M shall always have negative pH.
Examples:
For 2 M HCl,
For 12 M HCl,
Module 9: ChemMisconception: pH
(Page 5 of 8)
ONLINE REFRESHER COURSE IN CHEMISTRY FOR HIGHER EDUCATION FACULTY (2018)
@ SWAYAM.GOV.IN
________________________________________________________________________
Module 9: ChemMisconception: pH
(Page 6 of 8)
ONLINE REFRESHER COURSE IN CHEMISTRY FOR HIGHER EDUCATION FACULTY (2018)
@ SWAYAM.GOV.IN
________________________________________________________________________
Once the temperature changes, pH will change because the ionic product of water
will change.
At 25oC, Kw is 10-14 and since Kw is the product of the concentration of H+ ion and
product of concentration of OH- ion, it will come out to be seven; pOH will be seven
and pKw which is the sum total of pH and pOH that will come out to be fourteen.
At lower temperature, e.g., at 0oC, the ionic product decreases, that means on
lowering the temperature the ionization of water decreases. So we have less
concentration of H+ ions, less concentration of OH- ions and hence the pH
increases to 7.47; pOH also becomes 7.47. Here, pKw becomes 14.94 (please see
the Table below).
At higher temperature, e.g., 50oC, Kw increases; that means more water has
ionized. Hence pH of neutral water decreases to 6.63 and pOH is also 6.63; pKw
becomes 13.26.
When we say that pH of pure water is 7, this is only applicable at 25oC temperature.
pH of pure water will decrease as the temperature will increase.
7. Summary
Module 9: ChemMisconception: pH
(Page 7 of 8)
ONLINE REFRESHER COURSE IN CHEMISTRY FOR HIGHER EDUCATION FACULTY (2018)
@ SWAYAM.GOV.IN
________________________________________________________________________
Reference Material
• https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/pressroom/podcasts/ph-test-strips-
activity.pdf
• https://wrrc.umass.edu/research/projects/acid-rain-monitoring-
project/analysis-method-ph-and-alkalinity
Web-Links
• https://www.growthtechnology.com/growtorial/what-is-the-ph-value/
• http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/biology/bio4fv/page/ph_def.htm
• http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Chemical/ph.html
• https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/references/acids-
bases-the-ph-scale
Module 9: ChemMisconception: pH
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