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H+


Introduction

The concentration of free protons [H+] directly correlates with the strength of an acid.


—Log Proton Concentration [pH]

pH is defined as the negative log of the proton concentration.
Substance[H+] concentrationscientific notationpH
lemon juice0.011x10–22
black coffee0.000011x10–55
pure H2O0.00000011x10–77
blood0.000000041x10–7.47.4
sea water0.000000011x10–88
baking soda0.0000000003162277661x10–9.59.5

What if you know the pH of a substance, and want to know how that translates to proton concentration?

Just remember:

Knowing this, you can simply plug in your pH as your Y value, allowing X to represent your proton concentration.

Using pure water (pH=7), let’s first take the log positive by shifting the negative to the other side of the equation:

Having done, that, we can simply follow the “if log X = Y, then X = 10Y” logic:

Thus, having run the calculation in reverse, we know that if pure water has a pH of 7, then its proton concentration must be 1x10-7 M.


Henderson-Hasselbalch equation

Another way to calculate pH, which is especially useful for buffer solutions:


Strong Acids favor Reactants



Acids & Bases
[Ka] [pKa] [H+] [pH]

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