Destroyer Gchem question

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yankees27th

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#140:
The Kw for at the given temperature is 5x10^-14. How does this make the water more acidic? I understand that there's more H+, but there's more OH- too. How do you know it's not slightly basic?

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#140:
The Kw for at the given temperature is 5x10^-14. How does this make the water more acidic? I understand that there's more H+, but there's more OH- too. How do you know it's not slightly basic?

pH is based on concentration of H+ ions and nothing else. It doesn't matter if there is 1000 molar OH- in the solution.
Hence, a lot of H+ and a lot of OH- is read only as a lot of H+. Aka acidic.
 
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Actually, the water is neither acidic nor basic. It's neutral. [H+][OH-]=Kw. The pH ithe negative log of the [H+]. Thus, at Kw=1*10^-14, the H+ OH- concentrations would both be 1*10^-7, and the pH and pOH would be 7. In our case, the Kw is 5*10^-14 and thus the [H+] and [OH-] would each be 2.2*10^-7, making the pH and the pOH both 6.65.

Remember, acidic means that there is more H+ than OH-. If they are equivalent, it is neutral no matter what the pH is. pH=7 is neutral only when Kw=1*10-14.
 
Actually, the water is neither acidic nor basic. It's neutral. [H+][OH-]=Kw. The pH ithe negative log of the [H+]. Thus, at Kw=1*10^-14, the H+ OH- concentrations would both be 1*10^-7, and the pH and pOH would be 7. In our case, the Kw is 5*10^-14 and thus the [H+] and [OH-] would each be 2.2*10^-7, making the pH and the pOH both 6.65.

Remember, acidic means that there is more H+ than OH-. If they are equivalent, it is neutral no matter what the pH is. pH=7 is neutral only when Kw=1*10-14.

Is that the official definition of acidic? If so, then I don't know what to say.
 
Yes. An acidic solution means there is more H+ than OH-. Check your general chem book if you're unsure.
 
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