This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American I remember learning about acids and bases (or ...

The pH scale measures the acidity or alkalinity of a substance, ranging from 0 to 14, with values below 7 representing acidity, above 7 representing alkalinity, and 7 representing neutrality.

However, water comes from different sources, like tap water or river water. These water samples have other substances dissolved in them. They might show up as slightly acidic or slightly alkaline ...

Beer wasn’t always so consistant. Even the same producer’s brews could be wildly different in quality (Getty/iStock) Do you remember any chemistry from your schooldays? Dipping litmus paper into a ...