pH NOTES

What is “pH”?• The term "pH" was invented in

1909 by the Danish chemist Soren Sorensen

• pH was originally written by Dr Sørensen as pH, and it stands for pondus hydrogenii which means "potential hydrogen". The terminology refers to acidity being due to a predominance of hydrogen ions in an aqueous (water containing) solution.

Acids and BasesAcid = compounds that release hydrogen

ions (H+) in solution. (ex. HCl)Base = produce OH- ions in solution (ex.

sodium hydroxide)

Acid Base

pH scale

pH scale = the scale of acidity or basicity from 1 to 14.

1 (strong acid) 14 (strong base)

7 (neutral) [H+] = [OH-]

High OH-

Concentration

Low OH-

Concentration