ph
/pˈiˈeɪtʃ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.97 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
2
Letters
2
Syllables
2
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Measure of the acidity (low pH) or basicity (high pH) of an aqueous solution, equal to the negative logarithm of the concentration of hydronium ions in molars.
Example Sentences
- "The water absorbency of the anionically starch-grafted AA/AM absorbent is markedly affected by the pH of the buffer solution at different ionic strengths. The charge of the ionic monomer affects the pH sensitivity of the superabsorbent polymers. An acidic superabsorbent normally ionizes at high pH but unionizes at low pH."
- "In the bibliometric survey, the overwhelming majority of stress indicator studies focused on one or more of the following: porotic hyperostosis (PH, usually in the orbital roofs but sometimes also in the cranial vault), […] Because PNB and PH are surface alterations, macroscopy is well suited for their recognition in skeletal remains. For PH (and for porotic bony alterations in general), care needs to be taken in distinguishing normal from abnormal porosity."
Etymology
Originally introduced in 1909 by S. P. L. Sørensen, using the notation p_(H⁺) for what he called the “hydrogen ion exponent” (Wasserstoffionenexponent) of a solution. He may have chosen the symbol p arbitrarily; another suggestion is that it either an abbreviation of French puissance, German Potenz, Danish potens (“power”) or English potential. The H is the international chemical symbol for the element hydrogen.