Body's Acid ▲ Alkaline balance

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• pH
  • What does pH mean?
  • Measuring Body pH
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What does pH mean?

Measuring Body pH

The pH value represents a fluid's acidity or alkalinity level.   By indicating its concentration of hydrogen ions (H+) and therefore its potential for attracting more Hydrogen ions.

pH values of fluids range from 0 to 14

(very strong to very weak acids or bases/alkalis)

Note: A solution with a pH of 0 has no ability to attract hydrogen ions.

The pH scale goes from 0 to 14 and is logarithmic.   This means that each step is ten times higher that the previous. (E.g. pH of 4.3 is 10 times more acid than 5.3, and 100 times more acidic than 6.3)

-   pH = -log (H⁺ conc.) On the logarithmic scale the difference between each pH number is a factor of 10.A pH of 5 means 10^-5 (i.e. 1/10⁵ ) g/L of H* ions. i.e. 10 x more acidic than a pH of 6 (10^-6 g/L)

The STRENGTH of an acid or base is determined by how fast and how much of it dissociates into ions - E.g. A strong acid will have lots of H⁺ ions, a weak acid not so many.

-   Ionization occurs when molecules are “pulled”apart in solution, creating negative and positive ions -E.g. Water (H₂O or HOH) is usually very weakly ionized, but certain substances can "pull" at the water to separate it into electrically charged H⁺ and OH^- ions (When these ions are in equal proportions, the pH is a neutral 7). Most organic acids are weak, but mineral acids (e.g. HCl) are much stronger.

-   An acid can be neutralized by adding an alkali

Proton - positively charged ion e.g. Hydrogen ion ( H⁺ );

Electrons /negatively charged ions - carry a negative charge e.g. hydroxyl ion (OH^-)