Final answer:
The hydrogen ion concentration of 0.00005727 moles per liter should be written in scientific notation as 5.727 × 10^-5 M, which indicates an acidic solution, different from the neutral pH of 7 corresponding to a hydrogen ion concentration of 1 × 10^-7 M in pure water.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student has enquired about a solution with a hydrogen ion concentration of 0.00005727 moles per liter, which can be expressed in scientific notation. To correctly express this concentration in scientific notation, we move the decimal point so that only one non-zero digit is to the left of the decimal point, which gives us 5.727, and then count the number of places the decimal has moved to determine the exponent on the 10, which yields an exponent of -5.
Therefore the concentration is more accurately expressed as 5.727 × 10^-5 M. Comparing this to the scenario where the concentration of hydrogen ions dissociating from pure water is 1 × 10^-7 moles H+ ions per liter of water, we can see the solution in question has a higher concentration of hydrogen ions than pure water, indicating it is acidic. The water example is useful to illustrate that a neutral pH corresponds to a hydrogen ion concentration of 1 × 10^-7 M, hence pH 7.