what is a ph scale

The pH scale is a measure of how acidic or basic a solution is/Acids_and_Bases/Acids_and_Bases_in_Aqueous_Solutions/The_pH_Scale). It is a logarithmic scale that ranges from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral. A pH of less than 7 indicates acidity, while a pH greater than 7 indicates basicity. The pH scale is based on the concentration of hydrogen ions (H+) in a solution. The lower the pH, the higher the concentration of H+ ions, and the more acidic the solution is. Conversely, the higher the pH, the lower the concentration of H+ ions, and the more basic the solution is/Acids_and_Bases/Acids_and_Bases_in_Aqueous_Solutions/The_pH_Scale). Each unit on the pH scale represents a ten-fold change in the concentration of H+ ions/Acids_and_Bases/Acids_and_Bases_in_Aqueous_Solutions/The_pH_Scale). For example, a solution with a pH of 3 is ten times more acidic than a solution with a pH of 4, and one hundred times more acidic than a solution with a pH of 5/Acids_and_Bases/Acids_and_Bases_in_Aqueous_Solutions/The_pH_Scale). The pH scale is used in many fields, including chemistry, biology, and agronomy, to measure the acidity or basicity of aqueous or other liquid solutions. There are many high-tech devices that are used to measure pH in laboratories, but one easy way to measure pH is with a strip of litmus paper.