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From: John W Kennedy <john.w.kennedy@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: xkcd: Unsolved Chemistry Problems
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On 6/7/24 9:09 PM, Peter Fairbrother wrote:
> On 07/06/2024 22:55, Your Name wrote:
>> On 2024-06-07 21:30:55 +0000, Lynn McGuire said:
>>>
>>> xkcd: Unsolved Chemistry Problems
>>>     https://xkcd.com/2943/
>>>
>>> Sounds like a good start to me.  I fight with ionic chemistry all the 
>>> time in my job.
>>>
>>> Explained at:
>>>  https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2943:_Unsolved_Chemistry_Problems
>>>
>>> Lynn
>>
>> Solved the last one of those:
>>
>>    "The letters pH stand for potential of hydrogen, since pH is
>>     effectively a measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions
>>     (that is, protons) in a substance."
>>
>> :-)
> 
> 
> SPOILER ALERT
> 
> s'aktually an abbreviation of an abbreviation. It should be p[H+]
> 
> 
> The "p" is used to denote the decimal negative logarithm of the 
> following quantity; you can have p(tons of concrete) or p(the number of 
> atoms in the universe), though I don't know why you might want to.
> 
> The square brackets nowadays mean the concentration of whatever is 
> inside them in moles per liter, ie [H+] is the concentration of hydrogen 
> ions in a sample.
> 
> And so p[H+] or more commonly pH is the negative logarithm of the 
> concentration in moles per liter of +ve hydrogen ions in a sample.
> 
> 
> The "p" does not stand for anything, contrary to many contrary opinions. 
> Sorenson had the concept of negative logs, but the p in his symbol - a p 
> with an individualised H subscript - referred to test tube p, with the 
> unique H subscript meaning the negative log of the concentration of H ions.
> 
> pH was easier to print than (a range of) individualised subscripts, so 
> quite quickly the p came to mean the negative log of the concentration 
> of whatever.
> 
> :)

He says that he mistrusts H+ ions (which are naked protons). When I was 
in high school, I’m pretty sure I was taught that it was actually 
hydronium ions (H₃O+) that were counted.

-- 
John W. Kennedy
Algernon Burbage, Lord Roderick, Father Martin, Bishop Baldwin,
King Pellinore, Captain Bailey, Merlin -- A Kingdom for a Stage!