Question

Aigner tracked the pH of rainwater at her school over three years. She noted that the average pH in the first year was 5.0. By the third year, the average pH was 3.0.

How many times more acidic was the year three rain than the year one rain?
A. 1.7
B. 2
C. 10
D. 100

Answer 1

I believe it would be D because each number it goes down, is another power of ten so it would be 10^2 which is 100

Answer 2

The correct answer is option D. "100".

Step-by-step explanation:

pH is a value used to measure the level of acidity or alkalinity that a substance has. The name pH comes from the term "power of hydrogen" as it is given by the number of free hydrogens that a substance has. The pH scale is logarithmic, which means that differences in integer values represent differences that are tenfold in magnitude. Therefore, the change of the pH value from 5.0 to 3.0, is a difference of 100 times in acidity.