What is the pH of a 10^8 M solution of HCl
pH = -log(H^+)
pH = -log(10^-8)
pH = -(8)
pH = -8. Yes, that's right. -8. For anything greater than 1M, the pH will be negative; i.e., 1 M is pH = 0. For < 0, pH is -.
oops. I copied a sign wrong. I made the correction (10-8 should have been 10^8). Here is the complete problem.
pH = -log(H^+)
pH = -log(10^8)
pH = -(8)
pH = -8. Yes, that's right. -8. For anything greater than 1M, the pH will be negative; i.e., 1 M is pH = 0. For < 0, pH is -.
To determine the pH of a solution of HCl, we first need to look at the dissociation of HCl in water. HCl is a strong acid and completely dissociates into H+ ions and Cl- ions in water.
The balanced equation for the dissociation of HCl is:
HCl → H+ + Cl-
Since the concentration of HCl is given as 10^8 M, we can assume that the concentration of H+ ions formed will also be 10^8 M.
pH is a measure of the concentration of H+ ions in a solution and is defined as the negative logarithm (base 10) of the H+ concentration.
To calculate the pH of a solution, we use the formula:
pH = -log[H+]
Plugging in the value of [H+] = 10^8 M into the formula, we have:
pH = -log(10^8)
Using logarithm properties, we can simplify this expression as follows:
pH = -(8)log(10)
The logarithm of 10 to the base 10 is equal to 1, so we can further simplify:
pH = -8
Therefore, the pH of a 10^8 M solution of HCl is 8.