Is a negative pH possible?  [ENDORSED]

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Wesley_Rugen_1E
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Is a negative pH possible?

Postby Wesley_Rugen_1E » Mon Nov 21, 2016 12:35 am

When asked to determine the pH, is it ever possible to get a negative pH?
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Kevin Tam 1J
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Re: Is a negative pH possible?

Postby Kevin Tam 1J » Mon Nov 21, 2016 8:32 am

No, the pH scale only goes from 0 to 14. When you take the negative log of a number between 10^-14 and 1 (which I think are the range of values you are going to be dealing with), you will always get a positive pH.
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Chem_Mod
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Re: Is a negative pH possible?  [ENDORSED]

Postby Chem_Mod » Mon Nov 21, 2016 2:17 pm

It is unusual but can happen with super acids that produce H3O+ above 1M because -log10X where X>1 results in a negative value.

I mentioned this briefly in class and said we will not come across this (super acidic) in biological systems.
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