What is total acidity or alkalinity?
Acids and alkalines are the ions that make water change into H+ or OH- ions. Thus, acids and alkalines can exist without water and if they do, there is no pH to measure. Examples of acids without water are fluorine or chlorine gases; examples of alkalies without water would include sodium, (Na+) or potassium, (K+). In addition, nylon and concrete are alkalines that at some phase do not mix with water. However, nylon and concrete will react with acids. Whereas the concentration of H+ or OH- determines the pH, the concentration of acid or alkaline may not determine the pH. When acids or alkalines in water do not regulate the pH, the acid or alkaline is said to be a buffered solution. Thus, many acids and alkalines have unique pH i.e. sodium tripolyphosphate has a pH of 9.4 at most reasonable concentrations. Therefore, the differences between acidity and alkalinity begin to take on meaning when an acid with a pH of 6 mixed with an alkaline of 8 and the result is not a pH of 7. The reason
