pH

Also known as potential of hydrogen, pH value

upright=1|thumb|right|Test tubes containing solutions of pH 1–10 colored with Universal indicator|an indicator

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pH is a measure of how acidic or basic a substance is, on a scale that typically ranges from 1 to 10. It matters because the acidity or basicity of liquids and solutions affects how they behave in chemistry, biology, and everyday applications like water treatment and food production.

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Article

24 sections

Contents

History
Definition
pH
p[H]
pOH
Measurement
pH Indicators
Non-aqueous solutions
Unified absolute pH scale
Extremes of pH measurements
Applications
pH in soil
pH in plants
pH in the ocean
Three pH scales in oceanography
pH in food
pH of various body fluids
pH calculations
Strong acids and bases
Weak acids and bases
General method
See also
References
External links

upright=1|thumb|right|Test tubes containing solutions of pH 1–10 colored with Universal indicator|an indicator

In chemistry, pH ( or ; ) is a logarithmic scale used to specify the acidity or basicity of aqueous solutions. Acidic solutions (solutions with higher concentrations of hydrogen (Hydrogen ion#Cation (positively charged)|) cations) are measured to have lower pH values than basic or alkaline solutions. While the origin of the symbol 'pH' can be traced back to its original inventor, and the 'H' refers clearly to hydrogen, the exact original meaning of the letter 'p' in pH is still disputed; it has since acquired a more general technical meaning that is used in numerous other contexts.