pH Lab

pH is the measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution and pOH is the measure of the concentration of hydroxide ions in a solution. A solution with a high concentration of H+ is considered acidic while a solution with a high concentration of OH- will be basic. On the pH scale of 1-14, 1-6 is considered acidic while 8-14 are basic and 7 being neutral.

In this lab, we found the pH of different buffers based on color using a universal indicator. By using a universal indicator in this lab, we were able to measure the pH of both acidic and basic solutions. Indicators change the color of solutions based on certain pH levels or concentrations. However, the colors may represent a range of close pH levels. Therefore, we must decide on a approximate pH, not exact. Once we observed how certain colors corresponded to certain pH levels, we could determine the pH of common household items.