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)
Hexafluorosilicic acid 99% hydrolysis occurs and the pH drops. The rate of hydrolysis increases with pH. At the pH of drinking water, the degree of hydrolysis is essentially 100%. Neutralization of solutions of hexafluorosilicic acid with alkali metal bases produces the corresponding alkali metal fluorosilicate salts: The resulting salt NaSiF is mainly used in water fluoridation. Related ammonium and barium salts are produced similarly for other applications. Near neutral pH, hexafluorosilicate salts hydrolyze rapidly according to this equation: The majority of the hexafluorosilicic acid is converted to aluminium fluoride and cryolite. These materials are central to the conversion of aluminium ore into