Have you ever seen the pH Scale and would like to know more about it? Here are five super pH Scale facts for kids.
Almost all liquids are either acids or bases. Whether a liquid is an acid or base depends on the type of ions in it. If it has a lot of hydrogen ions, then it is known as an acid. If it has a lot of hydroxide ions, then it is known as a base. Bases can also be known as alkalines.
The pH of something is measured on a scale that goes from 0 to 14. If a liquid measures from 0 to 6 on the pH scale it is an acid. 0 is the strongest acid. If a liquid measures from 8 to 14 on the pH scale it is a base. 14 is the strongest base. If a liquid has a pH of 7, it is known as neutral. An example of a liquid with a neutral pH would be distilled water.
The lower down the pH scale the more reactive the substance. This is also the same for substances with a pH higher up the scale. Chemical reactions occur between strong acids and bases. Liquids with very low pH levels can be quite dangerous. Battery acid and hydrochloric acid are the most acidic substances with pH of 0 as they are made up of many hydrogen ions. These acids need to be handled very carefully. Some foods that you eat are very acidic. Most fruits such as lemons, limes, pineapples, oranges and tomatoes are high in acid.
Although some acids with low pHs can be quite dangerous, some can be actually helpful. Our stomachs use hydrochloric acid to help us digest foods. This strong gastric acid also kills bacteria and helps to keep us from getting sick. Our stomachs have a pH of below 2.
A pH metre can give precise measurements of the pH of a substance. Sometimes a universal indicator paper is used to measure the pH of a liquid. Indicator paper contains chemicals that react with the hydrogen ions in a substance. The indicator paper changes a different colour for every unit of pH and a colour-key card can be used to indicate what pH the substance is.
For example, if the paper turns purple it may be pH 8. Another type of indicator paper used for testing pH is litmus paper. Litmus paper is a paper treated with an extract that changes colour according to pH. Acid solutions turn litmus paper red and basic solutions turn litmus paper blue. A neutral chemical won’t change the paper’s colour.
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about PH scale as much as we loved teaching you about them. Now that you know how majestic the universe is, you can move on to learn about other STEM articles like: Chemical Reactions, Atoms, Acids and Bases, Electromagnetic Waves and States of Matter.
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