PH levels

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I am confused on the PH levels- acidic and basic. I know I need a better understanding of this because it seems to effect every system in the body. Anyone have a quick easy way to understand and remember this concept?

I am just starting clinicals and concerned on not fully understanding this topic.

Thanks

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Not sure what you need? Are you having trouble remembering the ranges or what the effects of acidosis/alkalosis would have on systems? Be a little more specific and I'm sure we can get you something. Besides Daytonite is probably typing up a fantastic post as we speak.

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

low ph is acidic; high ph is basic, or a base.

the way i always remembered this is:

a (acids) are lowest in the alphabet and have a lower ph than b (bases). b (bases) will have a higher ph because they are higher up in the alphabet than the a (acids).

the scale runs from 0 to 14. 7 is always neutral (neither an acid nor a base) and is in the middle.

ph of 0 (acid)-----ph of 7 (the middle)-----ph of 14 (base, or alkaline)

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As Daytonite said, 7 pH is neutral, and the farther you get away from 7 towards 0 or 14, the stronger the acid or base respectively.

It should also be noted that pH is a logarithmic measurement. The "p" in pH stands for "-log10" and the "H" for hydrogen ion concentration. This means an acid with a pH of 4 is ten times stronger than an acid with a pH of 5.

Water (H2O) is in reality made up of hydrogen (H+) and hydroxyl (OH-) ions. Plain old water with no contaminating ions has equal quantities of both H+ (1x10-7) & OH-(1x10-7) ions - it's pH is 7.0.

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Now that I can remember the levels thanks to Daytonite, I still am struggling with the effects of PH levels on the body. Any thoughts?

Thanks for your help. This is awesome!

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low ph is acidic; high ph is basic, or a base.

the way i always remembered this is:

a (acids) are lowest in the alphabet and have a lower ph than b (bases). b (bases) will have a higher ph because they are higher up in the alphabet than the a (acids).

the scale runs from 0 to 14. 7 is always neutral (neither an acid nor a base) and is in the middle.

ph of 0 (acid)-----ph of 7 (the middle)-----ph of 14 (base, or alkaline)

thanks for your help and also attaching the critcal thinking flow sheet. i need all the help i can get.:yeah:

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

See the weblinks I posted this morning for this student:

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