Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2023 April 1

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April 1

Element 717

What would be the abbreviation for the systematic name of a hypothetical element of atomic number 717? – MrPersonHumanGuy (talk) 10:07, 1 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@MrPersonHumanGuy The IUPAC recommendation shows that 717 = SeptUnSeptium [capitals added for clarity] and hence Sus. Not likely to have a real-world utility any time soon.... Mike Turnbull (talk) 10:39, 1 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Calculating pH of strong bases by molarity.

I don't believe you can use the pH = 14 - pOH to calculate the pH of strong bases if the pH would otherwise be over 14, right?

I believe the biggest molarity of NaOH and Ca(OH)2 is 4 M and .016 M, per molecular weight. If we used the above formula, and try to calculate the pH of 1 M NaOH and 4 M NaOH, we get:

[OH-] = 1 M
pH = 14 - pOH
pOH = -log[OH-] = -log[1] = 0
So pH = 14 - 0 = 14.

But if 4 M,

pOH = -log(4) = 0.60
pH = 14 - 0.60 = 13.40

Clearly a pH of 4 M base should be higher than 1 M strong base. So looks like the way to solve it is to use the 1.0 * 10^-7 formulas. But are there any other examples of formulas that can have flaws? 2601:249:8200:A640:6192:535F:DD86:406C (talk) 14:07, 1 April 2023 (UTC).[reply]

I think you made an arithmetic error here: -log(4) = -0.60, so the pH would be 14.60, not 13.40. 2601:646:9882:46E0:A5F2:1021:A63E:67E0 (talk) 02:17, 2 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, resolved. This was ironic as it was a ChatGPT error. A simple math error, which I later confronted it. I hope it doesn't make it again. 64.107.3.137 (talk) 00:23, 5 April 2023 (UTC).[reply]
Resolved