Final answer:
The pH of the nitric acid solution is approximately 1.84.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the pH of a solution, we first need to determine the concentration of the acid. In this case, the chemist dissolved 319 mg (or 0.319 g) of nitric acid in enough water to make up 350 mL of solution. We can convert this mass to moles by dividing by the molar mass of nitric acid, which is approximately 63.01 g/mol. So, the number of moles of nitric acid is 0.319 g / 63.01 g/mol = 0.00507 mol.
Next, we need to calculate the molarity of the solution by dividing the number of moles by the volume in liters. The volume can be converted from milliliters to liters by dividing by 1000. So, the molarity is 0.00507 mol / (350 mL / 1000) = 0.0145 M.
The pH of a solution can be calculated using the equation pH = -log[H+], where [H+] is the concentration of hydrogen ions. Since nitric acid is a strong acid, it dissociates completely in water, so the concentration of hydrogen ions is equal to the molarity of the nitric acid solution. Therefore, the pH of the solution is approximately -log(0.0145) ≈ 1.84.