2.5 Acids, Bases and Salts
chemistry
General Information
Acids and bases are very common.
- Many familiar compounds are acids or bases.
- Classification as acids or bases is based on chemical composition.
Acids and bases can be very dangerous!
- Both can be very corrosive.
- NEVER try to identify an acid or base by taste or touch!
The strength of acids and bases in measured on the pH scale
- pH below 7 = acidic, pH above 7 = basic, pH 7 = neutral
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
AcidsNeutralBases
- Each decrease of 1 on the pH scale indicates 10X more acidic
- For example, pH 4 is ten times more acidic than pH 5
- pH 3 is 1000X more acidic than pH6
Check out pH scale PhET simulation below.
(If you drag the pH meter into the container you can change the solution using the drop down menu to see the pH of different things. You can also add water and remove some of the solution to see how that affects the pH.)