ZAP’S FACTS!
CHEMISTRY

The pH scale runs from 0 to 14 - and most of your favorite drinks are pretty acidic.

Coke has a pH of about 2.5 - almost as acidic as lemon juice.

2 min read
The pH scale runs from 0 to 14 - and most of your favorite drinks are pretty acidic.
THE FULL STORY

The pH scale measures how acidic or basic something is. It runs from 0 (strongest acid) to 14 (strongest base), with 7 in the middle being neutral. Pure water sits right at 7.

Going down the scale, things get more acidic. Lemon juice is pH 2. Coke is around pH 2.5. Vinegar is pH 3. Your stomach acid is around pH 1.5 - strong enough that it could dissolve a paperclip if you somehow fed it one. A special slimy mucus layer keeps your stomach acid from digesting your stomach itself.

Going up the scale, things get more basic (also called alkaline). Baking soda is around pH 9. Soap is about 10. Household bleach hits pH 12-13. Drain cleaner can be pH 14, the maximum. Each step on the pH scale represents a 10× change in acidity, so pH 4 is ten times more acidic than pH 5, and a hundred times more acidic than pH 6. The scale isn’t linear - it’s logarithmic.

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