December 16, 2003

Fun With pH Strips

For some reason I was getting a lot of ink hazing on the letterhead that I was printing this afternoon. I grabbed my pH strips to check the acidity of the press's fountain solution and found that it was 6.5 (ideal pH is about 4.5 to 5).

Bored with printing, I got the bright and productive idea to test the pH of other liquids that I had sitting around.
The pH scale runs from 0 to 14 (7 being neutral). 0-6.5 is an acid; 7.5-14 is a base.
Here are some results:

Vinegar: pH 2 (very acidic)
Amonia: pH 8 (somewhat of a base)
Tap water: pH 4.5
Anti-static spray: pH 4.5
Deglazing solvent (strong stuff): pH 4.5
Coffee: pH 4.5
B&G Hot Chopped Pepper Sandwich Topper Sauce: pH 3
Pepsi: pH 2 (same as vinegar?!!!)

I got nothin'.

Posted by Tuning Spork at December 16, 2003 07:54 PM
Comments

What the hell is in your tap water?!

Posted by: Pixy Misa at December 16, 2003 10:00 PM

Flourine? Chlorine? I dunno. The water smells like a frickin' swimming pool.

Posted by: Tuning Spork at December 16, 2003 10:17 PM

I'm surprised about the coffee. I always assumed it was basic because of the bitterness of the caffeine. Isn't caffeine a base?

Posted by: Harvey at December 18, 2003 05:26 PM

Don't know about the caffiene, but I expected the coffee to be a base because of all the milk that Dunkin Donuts pumped into it. Weird, that one.

Posted by: Tuning Spork at December 18, 2003 06:03 PM

If the coffee was made with the tap water, that pH would make sense.

Posted by: Brent at April 4, 2005 10:08 AM
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