Soil pH Soil pH Soil pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity (alkalinity) of a soil. pH is defined as the negative logarithm (base 10) of the activity of hydronium ions ( or, more precisely, ) in a solution. In soils, it is measured in a slurry of soil mixed with water (or a salt solution, such as 0.01 M ), and normally falls between 3 and 10, with 7 being neutral. Acid soils have a pH below 7 and alkaline soils have a pH above 7. Ultra-acidic soils (pH < 3.5) and very strongly alkaline soils (pH > 9)
Glutamic acid The radical corresponding to glutamate is called glutamyl. When glutamic acid is dissolved in water, the amino group (-) may gain a proton (), and/or the carboxyl groups may lose protons, depending on the acidity of the medium. In sufficiently acidic environments, the amino group gains a proton and the molecule becomes a cation with a single positive charge, HOOC-CH()-()-COOH. At pH values between about 2.5 and 4.1, the carboxylic acid closer to the amine generally loses a proton, and the acid becomes the neutral zwitterion OOC-CH()-()-COOH. This is also the form of the compound in the crystalline solid state.