For every decrease of 1 on the pH scale, how is the concentration of positive hydrogen ions affected?

The correct response indicates that for every decrease of 1 on the pH scale, the concentration of positive hydrogen ions indeed increases by a factor of 10. This relationship arises from the definition of pH, which is a logarithmic scale that measures the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution.

The pH scale is defined as:

[ \text{pH} = -\log[H^+] ]

Where ([H^+]) represents the concentration of hydrogen ions in moles per liter (mol/L). A decrease of 1 in pH corresponds to an increase in the hydrogen ion concentration by a power of ten because the logarithm is a base 10 logarithm.

For instance, if the pH changes from 7 to 6, it signifies that the concentration of hydrogen ions has increased from (1 \times 10^{-7}) mol/L to (1 \times 10^{-6}) mol/L. The factor by which the concentration increases is

[ \frac{1 \times 10^{-6}}{1 \times 10^{-7}} = 10. ]

This logarithmic nature of the pH scale explains why the concentration of hydrogen ions grows by a