What Does pH Stand For?

pH is a measure of hydrogen ion concentration or [H⁺] in an aqueous solution. It is a useful gauge of the acidity of a solution. Yet, do you know why we use the symbol "pH" or what it stands for?

Have you ever wondered what pH stands for or where the term originated? Here is the answer to the question and a look at the history of the pH scale.

Question: What Does pH Stand For?

 

 

Answer: pH is the negative log of hydrogen ion concentration in a water-based solution. The term "pH" was first described by Danish biochemist Søren Peter Lauritz Sørensen in 1909. pH is an abbreviation for "power of hydrogen" where "p" is short for the German word for power, potenz and H is the element symbol for hydrogen. The H is capitalized because it is standard to capitalize element symbols. The abbreviation also works in French, with pouvoir hydrogen translating as "the power of hydrogen".

Logarithmic Scale

The pH scale is a logarithmic scale that usually runs from 1 to 14. Each whole pH value below 7 (the pH of pure water) is ten times more acidic than the higher value and each whole pH value above 7 is ten times less acidic than the one below it. For example, a pH of 3 is ten times more acidic than a pH of 4 and 100 times (10 times 10) more acidic than a pH value of 5. So, a strong acid may have a pH of 1-2, while a strong base may have a pH of 13-14. A pH near 7 is considered to be neutral.