Question

Increased industrialization has caused a rise in harmful acid rain precipitation that affects plant and marine life. A sample of acid rain has a proton concentration 10,000 times greater than pure water and more than 100,000 times greater than seawater. What is the approximate pH of this sample?

Answer 1

pH of the sample of acid rain is 3.

Step-by-step explanation:

Pure water has a theoretical pH of 7.00. As pH = -log [H⁺], [H⁺] = 1x10⁻⁷M

Now, the sample of acid rain has a proton concentration 10,000 times greater than pure water. That is:

[H⁺] = 10,000 * 1x10⁻⁷M = 1x10⁻³M

The pH of this sample is:

pH = -log 1x10⁻³M

pH = 3