Question:

Determine the amount of solution needed to lower down the pH level of a 100 L solution from ph8 to pH7.

Answer:
The pH level of a solution is a measure of its hydrogen ion concentration. Solutions with a high concentration
of hydrogen ions have a low pH, and solutions with a low concentration of H+ ions have a high pH. A simple
working definition of pH is pH = - log[H+], where [H+] is the hydrogen ion molarity. The definition of pH solved
for hydrogen ion molarity is then [H+] = 10-pH.
To calculate the volume of the acid needed to dilute the 100L solution, it is necessary to calculate first the
molarity of the original solution and the final solution.
Using the equation below, we can calculate the molarity in terms of hydrogen ion concentration.
𝑝𝐻 = −𝑙𝑜𝑔10 [𝐻 + ]

𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 10−𝑝𝐻

Let:
V1 = volume of the original solution

V2 = volume of the acid needed

M1 = Molarity of the original solution

M2 = Molarity of the acid solution to be added

M3 = Molarity of the solution produced when acid is already added

After calculating the molarity of the solutions involved using the pH level given, we can determine M1 and M3.
Since the concentration of the acid to be added is unknown, we will just discuss the equation needed to solve
the unknown volume.

Using the equation below,

𝑀1 𝑉1 + 𝑀2 𝑉2 = 𝑀3 (𝑉1 + 𝑉2 )
[𝑀3 (𝑉1 + 𝑉2 )] − (𝑀1 𝑉1 )
𝑉2 =
𝑀2

Once all the parameters are known, the volume of the acid solution needed can already be calculated.

Prepared by:
Santos, Mara Gizette