How do you determine the pH of a solution that has a hydroxide concentration of #9.3*10^-16# M? Is this solution acidic or basic?

1 Answer
Michael
Apr 14, 2016

You can determine it like this:

Explanation:

Assuming we have aqueous conditions, water dissociates:

#H_2O_((l))rightleftharpoonsH_((aq))^(+)+OH_((aq))^(-)#

#K_(w)=[H_((aq))^(+)][OH_((aq))^(-)]=10^(-14)"mol"^2."l"^(-2)# at #25^@"C"#

This means that #[OH_((aq))^(-)]=10^(-7)"mol/l"# from the ionisation of water.

An #OH_((aq))^(-)# concentration of #9.3xx10^(-16)"mol/l"# is vanishingly small in comparison so I would say that the solution is neither acid or alkali but neutral.

Related questions
See all questions in pH
Impact of this question
1745 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License