1. Acids and Bases pH and Associated Calculations
Chemistry I Honors
Acids and Bases
pH and Associated Calculations

2. Molarity
This is actually “old business” as we covered Molarity in our lessons involving solutions.
The “Molarity Pyramid” still works for these systems.
We can calculate the molarity of an acid solution the same way we would calculate the molarity of any other solution.
Moles of Solute
Molarity
Liters of Solution

3. The Concentration of Hydronium
This is an easy one.
If you look back at the first presentation, you see that acid molecules react with water to form hydronium ( H3O+ ).
In every single example presented, one acid molecule reacted with one water molecule to produce one hydronium ion.
example: HCl + H2O  H3O+ + Cl-

4. Meaning ????
If you look back at the reaction on the previous slide, you will see that the ratio of H3O+ to HCl is 1 : 1
Meaning that the concentration of hydronium will be exactly what the concentration of the acid solution was.
So, if the HCl solution is prepared to be 0.50 molar, the concentration of H3O+ will be molar

5. No Big Deal There… What’s Next ?
What’s next is something called pH .
pH is a measurement that communicates the relative acidity of an acid (or base – but that discussion occurs later) solution.
It is simply a number value – and it does not have units
The best place to begin a discussion of pH is to understand the pH scale.
As you will see on the next slide, the common scale runs from 0 to 14 with 7 in the middle.
Acid solutions have pH values less than 7 and base solutions have pH values greater than 7
An actual value of 7 is considered “neutral” – neither acidic nor basic.

6. The pH Scale
Note that the word “alkaline” is a synonym for “basic”. While this visual does not show it, the scale does extend to 0 on the left and 14 on the right.

7. More on the pH Scale
Need to realize that the “ends” of the scale are “more”.
As you move to the left, the solutions become more acidic.
As you move to the right, the solutions become more basic.
That means that a pH = 2 solution is more acidic than a pH = 3 solution. (and a pH 1 solution would be more acidic than a pH 2 solution)
Or, a pH 10 solution is more basic than a pH 9 solution.

8. What about the Calculations?
The pH scale is actually a logarithmic scale, so we will be taking the logs of numbers.
The equation to calculate pH is:
pH = - log [H3O+]
pH is the opposite of the log of the concentration of the hydronium in a solution.
The square brackets around the hydronium mean “concentration of” (in terms of molarity)

9. Keystrokes So, once you have the molarity of the acid solution…
On a TI-30 series calculator
Start with the numerical value of the molarity
Push the “log” button
Change the sign
You have the pH
On the TI – 80 series calculator
Push the sign change button (-)
Push the “log” button
Enter the numerical value of the molarity
Hit “enter”
Now you have the pH

10. What if You Have a Base?
Remember from the slide on the pH scale that bases have pH values that are greater than 7.
We also have to keep in mind that bases do not really have concentrations of H3O+ because that ion is produced by acids.
What we learned in Acids Lesson #1 is that bases are metal hydroxides that dissociate in water to yield OH- ions.
For monobasic compounds (have 1 OH- in the formula), the [OH-] will be the same as the molarity of the base solution (just like the acids).

11. Showing the Base Dissociation
Again, consider the dissolving of sodium hydroxide (monobasic) in water.
Na(OH)  Na+1 (aq) + (OH)-1 (aq)
There are no coefficients written – they are all 1’s. So… the ratio of (OH)-1 to Na(OH) is 1 : 1.
Therefore, the [OH-1] will be equal to the molarity of the Na(OH) solution.
If the Na(OH) solution has a concentration of 0.30 molar, the [(OH)-1] will be 0.30 molar.

12. pOH The Calculation for Bases
Chemistry has a “parallel” calculation (to the determination of pH) just for Bases.
It is called pOH and it is calculated virtually the same way as we calculate pH.
pOH = - log [OH-1]
The keystrokes on the calculator will be exactly the same as described for pH. But the results will be “curious” – look at the example on the next slide.

13. Sample Problem
“A solution of Na(OH) is prepared to have a concentration of molar. What is the pOH of this solution?” First - Since the Na(OH) is Molar, the [OH-1] is also Molar. Then: pOH = - log [OH-1] = - log (0.0025) = 2.60 (no units)

14. The “Curious” Part
You have already seen that the pH scale is structured so that bases have pH values greater than 7.
The answer you calculated in the previous slide was (obviously less than 7).
How is this possible?

15. Explanation The calculation that we did was for pOH , not pH.
The pOH scale actually runs backwards compared to the pH scale
The zero value will be on the right
The 14 value will be on the left
This is because bases are the “chemical opposites” of acids.

16. Comparing the Scales
Notice how the scales run in opposite directions to each other.
Notice too how low values on each scale correspond to “more”
Low pH value is more acidic
Low pOH value is more basic

17. Here is the Cool Part
If we draw a vertical line anywhere on the diagram above and add the values of pH and pOH that the line would intersect on the two scales, the result of that adding will be “14”. (Try it!)
That allows us to create an equation that connects pH and pOH
pH + pOH = 14

18. Back to the Original Problem
“A solution of Na(OH) is prepared to have a concentration of molar. What is the pOH of this solution?”
Looking back at the calculation (5 slides earlier), the pOH = 2.60
But, what if the problem had actually asked you to calculate the pH ? (instead of the pOH).

19. Now You Can Do This
If the pOH is 2.60 , we can convert this measurement to a pH using the relationship presented two slides earlier.
pH + pOH = 14
So: pH = 14
Subtracting: pH =
pH =
Which is in the Base range on the pH scale. (as it should be – NaOH is a base.)

20. Summarizing Acids Bases Are metal hydroxides Have the formula “HX”
Ionize to form H3O+1
Will have [H3O+1] equal to the acid solution molarity
You will calculate a pH using the [H3O+1]
You can convert this to a pOH using pOH = pH
Are metal hydroxides
Dissociate in water to form the OH-1 ion
Will have [OH-1] equal to the base solution molarity
You will calculate a pOH using the [OH-1]
You can convert this to a pH using pH = pOH

21. Your Task
There are two different worksheets that will provide some quick practice in calculations involving molarity and pH and pOH.