How much more acidic is a solution of pH 3 compared with a solution of pH 6?

1 Answer
anor277
Oct 24, 2016

The solution whose #pH=3# is #1000# times as acidic as the solution whose #pH=6#.

Explanation:

By definition, #pH=-log_(10)[H_3O^+]#. A solution whose #pH=1# is ten times more acidic than the solution whose #pH=2#.

Given the logarithmic scale, if #pH=3# this is #10^3# times as acidic as the solution whose #pH=6#.

To give numbers, #pH=3#, #[H_3O^+]=10^-3*mol*L^-1#.

#pH=6#, #[H_3O^+]=10^-6*mol*L^-1#. And clearly the former is #10^3# as acidic.

Back in the day, students routinely used log tables before the advent of electronic calculators to perform mulitplications and divisions. I can't say say that I really miss it; there was far too much arithmetic.

Related questions
See all questions in pH calculations
Impact of this question
60167 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License