The addition of Sodium Hydroxide would ___ the pH of water.

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Multiple Choice

The addition of Sodium Hydroxide would ___ the pH of water.

Explanation:
Adding sodium hydroxide introduces hydroxide ions, making the solution more basic and raising the pH. Sodium hydroxide is a strong base and dissociates completely in water: NaOH → Na+ + OH−. The extra OH− increases the basicity, and through the water autoionization equilibrium (H2O ⇌ H+ + OH−), a higher OH− concentration drives the balance to lower H+ concentration, which pushes pH above 7. So the pH increases. The other options don’t fit because decreasing pH would require more H+, stabilizing implies the pH stays near neutral despite the addition, and neutralizing would mean removing base or adding acid to bring to neutral—none of which describe what adding a strong base does to pure water.

Adding sodium hydroxide introduces hydroxide ions, making the solution more basic and raising the pH. Sodium hydroxide is a strong base and dissociates completely in water: NaOH → Na+ + OH−. The extra OH− increases the basicity, and through the water autoionization equilibrium (H2O ⇌ H+ + OH−), a higher OH− concentration drives the balance to lower H+ concentration, which pushes pH above 7. So the pH increases.

The other options don’t fit because decreasing pH would require more H+, stabilizing implies the pH stays near neutral despite the addition, and neutralizing would mean removing base or adding acid to bring to neutral—none of which describe what adding a strong base does to pure water.

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