can someone explain pH to me in basic baby words?

Question

can you please explain...pH in water and soil, pH in general, and bases and acids?
this is for an exit project and i really don't comprehend the general idea behind the whole thing. I have research that i don't understand or can't make into my own words....please help me!
oh, and you can choose to just help me with one part, but i just really need help!
thank you SO MUCH!!!

Answer 1

Water, H2O, naturally breaks down into ions, an OH- ion (called hydroxide) and an H+ ion (just called a Hydrogen ion). In every glass of water you drink, a very small proportion of the water exists in this broken down form. Sometimes the ions combine back into a water molecule, too. On average, pure water will have 1 molecule out of every 10^7 broken down into ions.

But in some liquids, the balance between the hydroxide and hydrogen ions can get out of balance. If there is more H+ than OH-, the liquid is an acid. If there is more OH- than H+, the liquid is a base.

pH is a measure of the proportion of H+ ions in the liquid. If the proportion is the "normal" 10^-7, the liquid has a pH of 7, indicating that it's neutral. If the liquid has a lot of H+ (meaning it's acidic), the proportion will be larger -- say, 10^-6, which would have a pH of 6, or even 10^-2 for a pH of 2. That's highly acidic!

If there are more hydroxide ions, the proportion of H+ will drop accordingly, because more of the H+ will be recombined with the plentiful hydroxide, reducing the level of H+. So if the level of H+ is very small, like 10^-12, the pH would be 12, which is very base (or very "alkiline").

Answer 2

Umm, okay, in baby words:

pH is a measure of the strength of an acid. You need to know a few things:

*All acids are very similar in how they work
*The concentration of the acid is basically the strength, the more concentrated the stronger the acid
*pH relates to the strength of the acid, the lower the pH the stronger the acid

*All bases are very similar
*Bases depend on concentration as well
*Bases neutralize acids (remove acids from a solution); acids neutralize bases as well -- they get rid of each other
*If a solution has a lot of base in it, it's pH will be larger number

So pH is a measure of what is winning, if it is acid or base. A pH of 7 is neutral, it has the same amount of acid as it does base. If the pH is less than 7, the solution is acidic. If the pH is greater than 7 the solution is basic.

These terms are universal, though they almost always talk about in water, in soil it will not be any different.

Answer 3

pH is the measure of how acidic or basic something is on a scale of 0-14. 0 being like concentrated battery acid and 14 being like Drano. 7 right in the middle is like pure distilled water with nothing in it. Just H20. Remember that the scale is exponantial. This means a pH of 6 is 10X more acidic that a pH of 7. A pH of 5 is 100X more acidic and so forth. So there is a huge difference between what only seems to be one number. It is the measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions/hydroxyl ions in something related to their temp.

Answer 4

PH is the balance of acid to alkalinity on a scale of 14 -
7 being neutral. Human blood is close to 7 or slightly higher.
the farther off of neutral will be irritating to humans and too far
will actually kill you. Muriatic acid or Hydrocloric acid has a PH
of 1 and will eat straight through anything very alkaline, like
concrete, metal, etc. The principle of the atomic bomb is separating the two, to extremes and then letting them come
together causing an explosion. Boy scouts have used calcium
choloride (used in swimming pools) brand name HTH, PH of 13. when
camping in the woods, they would put a couple of cups in a
pile and set an open coca cola next to it with a string around
its neck and then somebody would pull the string, tipping over
coke into the calcium and starting an instant fire and make it
seem like ghosts or something started it. In treatment of swimming pools, it extremely important to check and balance the
PH, because not only will it affect the swimmers saftety and
comfort, if too high will calcify the walls of the swimming pool
and metal pumps, etc. and PH too low will erode the walls of
the pool and eat away at the metal in pumps, etc.
Plastic and glass seem to be impervious to it and thats why
it is packaged in those kind of containers. Very dangerous
stuff if handled improperly.
PH STANDS FOR - PERCENT OF HYDROGEN

Answer 5

pH is the acidity of any solution or substance, in terms of the activity of hydrogen ions in the solution. In the pH scale 1-14, 1 is the most acidic, 14 is the most basic, and 7 is neutral. I hope this helps.

Answer 6

Characteristics of Acids:
**Acids taste sour
**Acids react strongly with metals (Zn + HCl)
**Strong Acids are dangerous and can burn your skin

Examples of Acids:
1. Vinegar 3. Citrus Fruits
2. Stomach Acid (HCl)

II. Bases

*Bases are ionic compounds that break apart to form a negatively charged hydroxide ion (OH-) in water.

*The strength of a base is determined by the concentration of Hydroxide ions (OH-). The greater the concentration of OH- ions the stronger the base.

Example: NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide-a strong base) in water
**Solutions containig bases are often called alkaline.


Characteristics of Bases:
**Bases taste bitter
**Bases feel slippery
**Strong bases are very dangerous and can burn your skin
Examples:
1. lye (Sodium Hydroxide)
2. Ammonia
III. Neutralization Reactions

** When acids and bases are added to each other they react to neutralize each other if an equal number of hydrogen and hydroxide ions are present.
When this reaction occurs -salt and water are formed.

Answer 7

The p scale is the reverse logarithm. The pH is the reverse logarithm of the concentration of protons (mostly in the form os hydronium). Just look for the definition of the decimal logarithm.

Answer 8

pH refers to the acidity of the object.

Answer 9

low ph = acid
high ph = base
medium ph = neutral