01.07 Acids & Bases (acid base balance)

So acid is defined by the number of hydrogen ions or more specifically how many hydronium ions there are in a solution compared to the number of hydroxide ions. So a water or H2O  molecule looks like a Mickey Mouse and the ears of Mickey are the hydrogens. And liquid water molecules are constantly colliding into one another and at any given time a Mickey mouse can lose an ear or gain one as these polar molecules interact. Pure water will have an equal or balanced amount of hydrogens or hydronium ions to hydroxide ions. But when the solution has and unbalanced amount of these and in this case has more Hydrogen ions and hydronium ions than hydroxide ions the solution is said to be acidic. So some great examples of this in life is hydrochloric acid, carbonic acid, uric acid, ascorbic acid and acetic acid.  A solution that contains more hydroxide ions than hydrogen ions or hydronium ions is called a base. Examples of a base include baking soda, soap, milk of magnesia, egg shells and bleach. Bases tend to be bitter in taste and slimy to the touch.

And a great way to measure how acidic or basic a solution is is by measuring its pH. pH which is thought to mean “the potential to make hydrogen ions” and it actually measures the H+ or H30+ ions in a solution. So when a solution is neutral there is a 10^-7 M concentration of hydronium ions and equally, there is a 10^-7 M concentration of hydroxide ions.  The pH scale is based on that negative logarithmic value of 10 to the negative 7th power. So when both are at that we say the pH is 7. Should the Hydronium concentration increase and an increase in a negative number would be to go from say -7 to -4 (-4 is bigger than -7) then the pH value drops as the concentration of hydronium ions increases. When the hydroxide values are greater than the hydronium values we say it has a pH greater than 7 and that it is basic.