The best statement that describes the relationship between a substance with a pH of 3.0 and a substance with a pH of 6.0 is:
A. The substance with the lower pH has 1,000 times as many hydrogen ions per volume of water.
Here's the reasoning:
The pH scale is logarithmic, meaning each whole number change on the scale represents a tenfold change in hydrogen ion concentration. Therefore:
- A substance with a pH of 3.0 has a hydrogen ion concentration of \(10^{-3}\) M.
- A substance with a pH of 6.0 has a hydrogen ion concentration of \(10^{-6}\) M.
To find the difference in hydrogen ion concentration:
\[ \frac{10^{-3}}{10^{-6}} = 10^{3} = 1000 \]
This shows that the substance with a pH of 3.0 has 1,000 times as many hydrogen ions as the substance with a pH of 6.0.
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