pH Scale

• In this interactive simulation, students investigate the relationship between pH and the concentrations of hydroxide, hydronium, and water using various everyday liquids.
• Students are able to manipulate factors such as dilution and volume to determine how these affect the pH and concentrations.

Positives

• The simulation includes molecular illustrations to help students visually compare the concentrations of hydroxide and hydronium.
• There are three different levels of the simulation (Macro, Micro, and My Solution) that can be used for different grade levels and purposes.

Additional Prerequisites

• Teachers can create a free account to access the teacher tips document, video primer, and activities submitted by other educators.
• The simulation is translated into over 70 different languages.

Differentiation

• The Macro simulation screen can be used in lower-level science and chemistry courses to introduce the pH scale and the effects of dilution on pH.
• Higher-level science and chemistry courses can use the Micro and My Solution simulation screens to explore pH quantitatively in terms of ion concentrations.
• This resource can be used in a math class to highlight a real-world application of logarithmic functions and scientific notation. Students can view concentrations on both a linear and logarithmic scale to visualize the importance of logarithmic scales in specific situations.
• Teachers can connect this resource to climate change by discussing ocean acidification. Some resources that can help build this connection include this interactive tool to visualize ocean acidification, this brief animated video, and this more detailed video for higher-level students.

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.