Question

how do ph levels work?

Answer 1

A pH meter is used to find out whether a substance is acidic or basic and how much is the strength of acidity or basicity. The pH scale measure ranges from 0 to 14. A pH between 0-7 indicates that the substance is acidic and a pH between 7 -14 shows that the substance is basic. And a pH of 7 indicates that the substance is of neutral pH. The pH of water is neutral.

pH depends upon the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution. It is the negative logarithm of concentration of H⁺ ions in a solution. So, a higher value of ph shows that the concentration of hydrogen ions is less and therfore the substance is basic. at the same a smaller value of ph shows that the solution is rich in hydrogen ions and therfore acidic.

As the pH scale is logarithmic, each whole pH value below 7 is ten times more acidic than the next higher value. For eg, when we consider values below 7, a pH of 3 is ten times more acidic than a pH of 4 and is 100 times acidic than a pH of 5.

Similar is the case of values above 7. Each pH value above 7 is ten times more alkaline than the next lower whole value. While we consider values above 7, a pH of 11 is ten times more basic than a pH of 10 and hundred times basic than a pH of 9.