pH is a measure of the hydorgen ion concentration of a solution.

Solutions with a high

concentration of hydrogen ions have a low pH and solutions with a low concentrations of H+ ions
have a high pH. The pH scale measures how acidic or basic a substance is. The pH scale ranges
from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral. A pH less than 7 is acidic. A pH greater than 7 is basic. The pH
scale is logarithmic and as a result, each whole pH value below 7 is ten times more acidic than the
next higher value. For example, pH 4 is ten times more acidic than pH 5 and 100 times (10 times
10) more acidic than pH 6. The same holds true for pH values above 7, each of which is ten times
more alkaline (another way to say basic) than the next lower whole value. For example, pH 10 is
ten times more alkaline than pH 9 and 100 times (10 times 10) more alkaline than pH 8. pH is
defined as the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration. The equation is:
pH = - log [H+]

Acids include strong acids, which completely dissociate in water, and weak acids, which only
partially dissociate. When an acid dissociates, it releases a proton to make the solution acidic, but
weak acids have both a dissociated state (A-) and undissociated state (AH) that coexist according
to the following dissociation equilibrium equation.

The concentration ratio of both sides is constant given fixed analytical conditions and is referred
to as the acid dissociation constant (Ka). The propensity of a compound to donate a proton is
measured as its acid ionization constant, or Ka. Ka is defined by the following equation.

Ka expresses how easily the acid releases a proton (in other words, its strength as an acid). The
equation shows how the dissociation state of weak acids vary according to the [H+] level in the
solution. Consequently, expressing acidity in terms of the Ka constant alone can be inconvenient
and not very intuitive. Therefore, pKa was introduced as an index to express the acidity of weak
acids, where pKa is defined as follows.

The smaller the pKa value, the stronger the acid.

Isoelectric point (pI) is a pH in which the particular (amphoteric) molecule or surface carries no
net electrical charge (net charge of is zero) / electrically neutral / at which it is at its minimum
ionization because the concentration of its cation form equals the concentration of its anion form.
Amphoteric molecules called zwitterions contain both positive and negative charges depending on
the functional groups present in the molecule. The molecule will not migrate in an electrical field.