PhET pH Scale

Directions: Download the PhET simulation entitled pH Scale and use it to prepare a prose-style writeup that addresses the following assessment statements. 8.1.1 Define acids and bases according to the BrnstedLowry and Lewis theories.

8.4.1 Distinguish between aqueous solutions that are acidic, neutral or alkaline using the pH scale. 8.4.2 Identify which of two or more aqueous solutions is more acidic or alkaline using pH values. 8.4.3 State that each change of one pH unit represents a 10-fold change in the hydrogen ion concentration [H+(aq)]. 8.4.4 unit. Deduce changes in [H+(aq)] when the pH of a solution changes by more than one pH

There are three different descriptions of what makes something an acid and what makes something a base. Two theories about this are the BrnstedLowry and Lewis theories which have slightly different ideas. The BrnstedLowry theory is more specific than the Lewis theory and states that an acid is a substance that is a donor of hydrogen ions or a proton donor giving one of these ions to the base which is obviously then a hydrogen ion or proton acceptor. A Lewis acid is then a substance that accepts a pair of electrons to form a dative bond while the base donates the bonding pair of electrons. However, irrelevant to how these acids or bases are defined, they can be quantitatively compared through the use of a pH scale. This determines how basic/alkali or acidic something is. Water which is neutral has a pH of 7 at s.t.p and this is where the concentration of hydroxide ions and hydronium ions are equal. Acids have a pH of lower than seven while bases have a pH higher than this. The lower/smaller the number, the more acidic a compound is and the higher/larger the number, the more basic it is. We can use this information to compare different compound to one another. If you take for example beer which had a pH of 4.5 and soda pop which has a pH of 2.5, we know that the soda pop is more acidic than beer. Also, because the pH scale is logarithmic, we can quantify that soda pop is 100 times more acidic than beer. The logarithmic nature of the pH scale means that every unit is a change by a factor of ten, so a pH decrease of 1 means that there is an increase of [H+] by ten times. Using this, we can deduce the change in [H+] of more than one. For example, a pH change of two as seen above is 10x10 times greater(or smaller) which amounts to x100 (or divided by 100). This rule can be extrapolated so that the change in pH is equal to 10n where n= the difference in pH. You would then obviously need to determine whether to divide or multiply. You multiply when the pH goes down and you divide when the pH increases.