pH calculator for acids, bases and buffers

For a strong acid, [H⁺] equals the acid concentration times the protons each unit releases, and pH = −log₁₀[H⁺]: 0.01 M HCl has pH 2.00. For a strong base, take pOH = −log₁₀[OH⁻] and subtract it from 14: 0.005 M Ba(OH)₂ releases 0.01 M OH⁻, so pOH is 2 and pH is 12. Weak acids only partly ionise, so they also need Ka.

Water ionises slightly, H₂O ⇌ H⁺ + OH⁻, and at 25 °C the product [H⁺][OH⁻] equals Kw = 1.0 × 10⁻¹⁴. In pure water the two concentrations are equal, so each is 10⁻⁷ mol/L and the pH is 7. Kw grows with temperature: at 50 °C pKw is 13.26, so neutral water has pH 6.63. This calculator uses the 25 °C value.

Ka is the acid dissociation constant, [H⁺][A⁻]/[HA] at equilibrium, and pKa = −log₁₀Ka. A lower pKa means a stronger acid, and each unit of pKa is a factor of 10 in Ka. Acetic acid has pKa 4.76, so Ka = 1.74 × 10⁻⁵ (often rounded to 1.8 × 10⁻⁵); hydrofluoric acid, Ka = 6.8 × 10⁻⁴, has pKa 3.17.

pH = pKa + log₁₀([A⁻]/[HA]) holds when the acid and its conjugate base are both far more concentrated than Ka and [H⁺], and their ratio lies between 0.1 and 10, which keeps the pH within one unit of pKa. Outside that ratio the buffer has little capacity left, and the calculator warns you. Equal concentrations give pH = pKa, so a 1:1 acetate buffer sits at 4.76.

Yes. A 2 mol/L solution of a strong acid such as HCl has [H⁺] of about 2 mol/L, and −log₁₀2 gives pH −0.30. At concentrations like this, ion activities differ markedly from concentrations, so a pH electrode reads a different value. Treat any calculated pH below 0 or above 14 as an estimate rather than a measurement.

Accuracy depends on your inputs and the method's assumptions. Decimal arithmetic uses 50 significant digits, but estimates, numerical methods and source data can be less precise; the displayed rounding does not remove those limits. It is checked against 8 worked examples whose answers come from independent sources; for example, “[H⁺] = 0.001 mol/L” is checked against −log₁₀(10⁻³) = 3; pOH = 14 − 3.

OpenStax Chemistry 2e, §14.2 pH and pOH; §14.3 Relative strengths of acids and bases; §14.6 Buffers; IUPAC Gold Book — pH; ionic product of water (Kw = 1.0 × 10⁻¹⁴ at 25 °C).