pH Scale is broken?

[Frederick Keith_4C]

If the scale is 0-14, how come some acids and bases have pHs beyond the scale? Like how is it possible to get a negative pH or a pH above 14 if the scale is 0-14? Why don't we change the scale to accommodate those acids and bases?

[Julie Park 1G]

Since pH is found by using the equation -log(x), where x is the concentration of hydrogen ions, pH will be negative as long as the hydrogen ions have a molarity greater than 1 (due to the behavior of the -log function). Because a negative pH is really hard to calculate experimentally due to lack of well-calibrated instruments, negative pHs are generally not mentioned. There has been some debate about whether the pH scale should be "open-ended" in the sense where arrows pointing to the left of 0 and to the right of 14 should be incorporated, but I think that for simplicity-related reasons, the 0-14 scale is most often used.

[Robert Tran 1B]

pH values are not solely confined to the values 0-14. However, most solutions fall within this range.

[ZevMarx-Kahn3C]

Are there any examples we should know of that fall outside the 0-14 range?

[Alex Chen 2L]

Are there any examples we should know of that fall outside the 0-14 range?

I don't think there are any specific examples we should know, since I looked some up and they all look complicated. Just know that they are called superacids if the pH is negative (below 0).

[Tiffany Dong_4e]

Superacids and superbases were briefly mentioned in class, but I believe we don't accommodate for them because they are extreme cases. For the most part, acids and bases should fall within the 0-14 pH scale.

[pauline young 1L]

i think knowing that there are acids and bases that go beyond the scale is enough, we don't need to specifically memorize any cases of that.