Question

What is the pH value of a solution in which [H⁺] is ${10}^{-10}$ mole per liter? Is it an acidic, alkaline or neutral solution?

Answer 1

Step 1:

pH indicates the concentration of hydrogen ions present in an aqueous solution.

1. The pH value for acids lies between 0 to 6.
2. The pH value for bases lies between 8 to 14.
3. For neutral solutions, the value of pH is 7.

Step 2:

The concentration of $\left[{\mathrm{H}}^{+}\right]$ = ${10}^{-10}$ mole per litre.

pH can be determined as:

$\begin{array}{rcl}\mathrm{pH}& =& -\log \left[{\mathrm{H}}^{+}\right]\end{array}$

Step 3:

The known value is substituted and log10 =1

$\begin{array}{rcl}\mathrm{pH}& =& -\log \left[{\mathrm{H}}^{+}\right]\\ & =& -\log \left({10}^{-10}\right)\\ & =& 10\end{array}$

The pH of the solution is 10, hence the solution is alkaline in nature.