The ph of a sample of water from a river is 6.0. a sample of effluent from a food processing plant has a ph of 4.0. the concentration of hydronium ion in the effluent is:
a. 100 times (100x) larger than the river hydronium ion concentration.
b. four times (4x) larger than the river hydronium ion concentration.
c. two times (2x) larger than the river hydronium ion concentration.
d. one and a half times (1.5x) larger than the river hydronium ion concentration.

A

Explanation:

The pH of a solution can be defined as the negative logarithm to base 10 of the concentration of hydroxonium ions.

Mathematically, pH = - log[H3O+]

Since we have the pH and we need the [H3O+],

[H3O+] = 10^(-pH)

Now we have pH of 4 and 6. Let’s try to place the pH of the effluent over that of the river water.

This is: 10^(-4)/10^(-6) = 100

This shows that the concentration of H3O+ in the effluent is 100 times multiplied by that of the water from the river