pH Scale

The rainbow scale at the top of my post is called a pH scale. A pH scale is a scale that you use to measure how acidic or basic something is. This scale measures from 0 to 14, if the pH of a substance is 7 then that means that the substance is neutral. Neutral means that the substance is neither an acid nor a base. If the substance's pH is below 7 it means that the substance is an acid. If the substance's pH is higher than 7 then it means that the substance is a base. Usually acids are sour and bases are bitter. An acid is just really a compound that produces hydrogen ions (H+) when dissolved in water. But, what makes one acid a strong acid and another a weak acid? Well, a strong acid can produce more hydrogen ions than a weak acid. A bases is just really a compound that produces hydroxide ions (OH-) when dissolved in water. But, what makes one base a strong base and another a weak base? Well, a strong base can produce more hydroxide ions than a weak base. The pH scale is a logrithmic scale. Which means that a difference of one pH unit represents a tenfold change. This basically means that as the number value on the pH scale becomes lower, the substance becomes ten times more acidic. To find the pH of something you can either use a universal indicator solution or pH strips of paper. An indicator is a substance or chemical that changes color in the presence of an acid or a base. But a universal indicator isn't very precise and doesn't use the whole scale, it just uses the numbers 4-11.

Here is a song that I found on YouTube that really sums up most of the things that I talked about in this blog post: Acids and Bases Song