Anyone know what pH stands for?
Bob Miller
Is pH an abbreviation for something?
C. W. Gibson
>Is pH an abbreviation for something?
"per Hydronium Ion concentration" [H+] is what I remember, from general
chemistry class many, many, moons ago.
Bryan Hollebone
In article <31F449...@dmv.com>, Bob Miller <xt...@dmv.com> wrote:
>Is pH an abbreviation for something?
The 'p' is latin for "potens" which literally means strength.
In chemical terms it means the negative log (base 10) of a quantity.
The quantity is often a molar concentration (e.g., pH, pOH),
but can be anything such as a reaction or equilibrium constant
(e.g., pKa, pKb).
BPH
Lloyd R. Parker
"p" is from the German "potenz" meaning "power." Since pH is a log, it
is the power 10 is raised to, to give the concentration. So it is
literally the "power of hydrogen."
David E. Bostwick
In article <gibson7-2307...@ip218.msp.primenet.com>,
C. W. Gibson <gib...@primenet.com> wrote:
}In article <31F449...@dmv.com>, Bob Miller <xt...@dmv.com> wrote:
}}
}}Is pH an abbreviation for something?
}}
}"per Hydronium Ion concentration" [H+] is what I remember, from general
}chemistry class many, many, moons ago.
It's the negative log of the hydrogen ion concentration.
--
David E. Bostwick
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332
david.b...@chemistry.gatech.edu
Miloslav Nic
C. W. Gibson wrote:
>
> In article <31F449...@dmv.com>, Bob Miller <xt...@dmv.com> wrote:
>
> >Is pH an abbreviation for something?
>
> "per Hydronium Ion concentration" [H+] is what I remember, from general
> chemistry class many, many, moons ago.
p stands for -log
So it is a -log of concentration of H+. (similar as pK)
--
***************************************************************
Dr. Miloslav Nic e-mail: nic...@vscht.cz
Department of Organic Chemistry TEL: +42 2 2435 4289
ICT Prague (VSCHT Praha) 2435 4118
URL: http://lib-c.vscht.cz/ http://staff.vscht.cz/och/
****************************************************************
Uncle Al Schwartz
Bob Miller wrote:
>
> Is pH an abbreviation for something?
The lower case "p" is shorthand for "negative log(10) of."
pH is "negative log(10) of the hydrogen ion concentration,"
although a rigorous treatment requries activity coefficients as
a start.
--
Alan "Uncle Al" Schwartz
Uncl...@ix.netcom.com ("zero" before @)
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Brent Gilbert
In <gibson7-2307...@ip218.msp.primenet.com> gib...@primenet.com (C. W. Gibson) writes:
>In article <31F449...@dmv.com>, Bob Miller <xt...@dmv.com> wrote:
>>Is pH an abbreviation for something?
>"per Hydronium Ion concentration" [H+] is what I remember, from general
>chemistry class many, many, moons ago.
I believe the 'p' stands for 'negative log of....' and the 'H' is the
hydroium ion concentration.
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brent Gilbert (bg0...@uhura.cc.rochester.edu)
"If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice" -Neil Peart
Michel Hachey
> Is pH an abbreviation for something?
The abreviation pH was proposed by the Danish Biochemist Soren Sorensen in
1909 and stands for "potential of hydrogen ion". It is defined as the
negative of the logarithm (base 10) of the molar concentration
(mole/Litre).
Thinking of "p" as power, potens, potenz, etc., is useful as a memory
aid if one thinks of the log as the power (exponent) of a number.
However, thinking of it as the strength of an acid can be terribly
misleading since a pH of 1 indicates a much stonger acid concentration
than a pH of 11, for example.
Seing as this is a very basic question, I probably should add that the
hydrogen ion is usually denoted H+, but some prefer denoting it H3O+ since
isolating H+ in aqueous solution is not very realistic. The hydronium ion,
is just a H+ ion which attached itself to water.
I hope this answers better your question of what the abbreviation stands
for.
Michel
kay...@ix.netcom.com
"pain in the Hind quarters," for many students.
~ ~
Kay ;-]
Chem...@clubnet.net
The symbol pH derives from the French <I>puissance d'hydrogene</I> which
refers to the exponent of ten. The original announcement of pH can be
found in <I>Biochem. Z.</I> volume 21, p. 131, 1909 by S.P.L. Sorensen.
In article <1996Jul23....@galileo.cc.rochester.edu>,
bg0...@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Brent Gilbert) wrote:
> In <gibson7-2307...@ip218.msp.primenet.com>
gib...@primenet.com (C. W. Gibson) writes:
>
> >In article <31F449...@dmv.com>, Bob Miller <xt...@dmv.com> wrote:
>
> >>Is pH an abbreviation for something?
>
Casey Donovan
gib...@primenet.com (C. W. Gibson) wrote:
>In article <31F449...@dmv.com>, Bob Miller <xt...@dmv.com> wrote:
>
>>Is pH an abbreviation for something?
>
>"per Hydronium Ion concentration" [H+] is what I remember, from general
>chemistry class many, many, moons ago.
I agree with the "Hydronium ion concentration [H+]" part, but "per" implies
a ratio, which would be redundant. The ratio is already expressed in [H+],
in equivalents/L.
To my understanding, "p" is an accepted symbol for "the negative of the
common logarithm of the".
Casey
Jeffrey Clymer
As I recall, p stands for 'potens', which is Latin for 'power', as in
'power of hydrogen ion'
Marc Guy DeCaire
In article <1996Jul23....@galileo.cc.rochester.edu>, bg0...@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Brent Gilbert) says:
>
>In <gibson7-2307...@ip218.msp.primenet.com> gib...@primenet.com (C. W. Gibson) writes:
>
>
>>>Is pH an abbreviation for something?
>
>>"per Hydronium Ion concentration" [H+] is what I remember, from general
>>chemistry class many, many, moons ago.
>
>hydroium ion concentration.
My Intro. chem. prof. told me that the term pH was coined by a Swedish
scientist who published his report in a French-language journal.
pH, apparently, means "puissance d'hydrogene"(power/strength of hydrogen).
/\ /\
Although, published in French, the term pH was retained by
the english-speaking chemical community.
My english/french dictionary says pH is abbrev. of "potentiel hydrogene".
Marc DeCaire
Saskatoon, Canada
Holger Petersen
lpa...@curly.cc.emory.edu (Lloyd R. Parker) writes:
>Bob Miller (xt...@dmv.com) wrote:
>: Is pH an abbreviation for something?
>"p" is from the German "potenz" meaning "power."
We Chemists in germany learn(ed) that "pH" comes from the latin
'pondus hydrogeni' which means "power of" AFAIK.
greetings, Holger
Charles Steinhardt
potens Hydrogen (potens is Latin for power)
--
Charles Steinhardt, cste...@mail.sas.upenn.edu
Claus Nielsen
Bob Miller <xt...@dmv.com> wrote:
>Is pH an abbreviation for something?
In a Danish Chem-Lex, pH is described as an abbreviation of two Latin
words: pondos hydrogenii. (The activity of hydrogen).
Claus
William R. Penrose
>Bob Miller (xt...@dmv.com) wrote:
>: Is pH an abbreviation for something?
pH is the first consonant of the word that you utter when you go to use the pH
meter and someone has let the electrode dry out or left it broken.
Bill
************************************************************
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contract R&D to this and nearby galaxies.
************************************************************
Lloyd R. Parker
Marc Guy DeCaire (mdec...@eagle.wbm.ca) wrote:
:
:
: My Intro. chem. prof. told me that the term pH was coined by a Swedish
: scientist who published his report in a French-language journal.
The term was coined by a Danish scientist, Sorensen. I find no reference
to its first being used in French.
Holger Petersen
lpa...@curly.cc.emory.edu (Lloyd R. Parker) writes:
My booklet on 'Volumetric methods' [*] gives this:
{translation to english}
... some text about concentration... A simplification of the writing ...
was introduced by Sörensen (1909) and Thiel as the 'exponent of Hydrogen'
But on page 146, the 'Urtiter' preparation of Na2CO3 from Na-oxalat
is attributed to one "Sörensen (1897-1905)".
On page 149 there is mentioned, that one could produce carbonate-free
NaOH by diluting high-concentrated NaOH. This ist said to come from
"Sörensen (1909), Cowles (1908) and Pregl (1925/26)" [but not recommended].
On page 45 that "S. P. L. Sörensen (1897-1906)" is mentioned again
with calibrating KMnO4 by Na-oxalat.
Greetings, Holger
[*] Massanalyse, Theorie und Praxis der Titrierverfahren
G. Jander & K. F. Jahr
Berlin 1959 Page 111
" + - -14
some 3 pages about [H ] * [OH ] ~= 10
Lediglich eine Vereinfachung der Schreibweise und des Ausdrucks
bedeutet die von Sörensen (1909) und Thiel eingeführte Bezeich-
nung 'Wasserstoffexponent bzw. Säurestufe. Man versteht darunter
den negativen dekadischen Logarithmus der [H+]"
Jeffrey N Woodford
On Mon, 22 Jul 1996 23:37:38 -0400 Bob Miller (xt...@dmv.com) wrote:
: Is pH an abbreviation for something?
gib...@primenet.com: "per Hydrodium ion concentration"
mic...@unb.ca: "potential of Hydrogen ion"
h...@kbbs.org: "pondus hydrogeni"
mdec...@eagle.wbm.ca: "puissance d'hydrogene"
"potentiel hydrogene"
cste...@mail1.sas.upenn.edu: "potens Hydrogen"
cla...@pos1.tele.dk: "pondos hydrogenii"
So to answer the original poster's question: Yes, pH is an
abbreviation for something. :-)
-Jeff
--
Jeffrey N. Woodford || Email: jwoo...@unlgrad1.unl.edu || Physical Chemistry
Homepage: http://wildcat.dementia.org/jeffw/index.html || Graduate Student
"The devils of truth steal the souls of the free" --NIN || (2nd Year) at UN-L
Sweattman
Unfortunately, I acn see that visiting this group will turn out to be a
Chem lesson..........pH= "pondus hydrogenii" to express very small
concentrations of hydrogen ions. I win!!!!!
Any further questions regarding pH should be addressed to my
company....phoenx.ix@netcom.com or (800)522-7920------ask for Peter or
Jason.
Best regards,
Jason
Barbara Connolly Murdock
I was under the impression (misguided,perhaps) that pH stood for
"potential hydrogen". Or is that what "pondus hydrogenii" translates
to. Call me stupid, but I'm smart enough to ask!
In <4uef61$9...@newsbf02.news.aol.com> swea...@aol.com (Sweattman)
writes: