Find a hydroxide-ion concentration in an aqueous solution having a pH of 2. Express your answer using one significant figures.
I thought the answer was 1*10^-2, but I have no clue what I am doing wrong.
pH + pOH = 14
pOH = 12
[OH] = 10^-12
To find the hydroxide-ion concentration, we need to use the equation for the relationship between pH and pOH:
pOH = 14 - pH
Given that the pH of the solution is 2, we can calculate the pOH as follows:
pOH = 14 - 2 = 12
Now, to find the hydroxide-ion concentration, we can use the equation:
OH- concentration = 10^(-pOH)
Plugging in the calculated pOH value:
OH- concentration = 10^(-12)
To express the answer using one significant figure, we need to round the result to the nearest power of 10. In this case, the result is already in the form of 10 raised to a negative power, so we round to one significant figure:
OH- concentration ≈ 1 × 10^(-12)
Therefore, your initial answer of 1 × 10^(-2) is incorrect. The correct answer should be 1 × 10^(-12), expressed using one significant figure.