Google’s latest doodle features S. P. L. Sørensen, the creator of the pH scale

Google on Tuesday created an interactive doodle featuring the Danish biochemist Søren Peder Lauritz Sørensen, who was responsible for introducing the pH scale.

S. P. L. Sørensen, while working as the head of the Carlsberg Laboratory in Copenhagen, derived the pH scale to measure the acidity of a substance.

Sørensen was studying the effect of ion concentration on proteins in order to simplify the process of understanding the concentration of hydrogen ions when he derived the pH scale. The first paper in which he used the pH scale described two methods of measuring alkalinity, the first based on electrodes, and the second studying preselected indicators and comparing colour samples.

The scale, widely used in laboratories even now, is also very helpful in understanding different elements and chemical compounds in our body. It is

important for the body to maintain a balance between two basic types of chemical compounds — acids and alkalis. The measurement of these compounds in body fluids such as blood, saliva, and urine is known as pH. Measuring pH can help gauge when one’s body has lost this balance. The scale ranges from 1 to 14. A measurement of 7 is neutral. Anything lower than 7 is considered acidic; anything higher than 7 is considered alkaline.

Take a look at your plate and peep into your glass. On the pH scale, soda = 2, coffee = 4 and cucumber = 7. Helpful right?

Today's doodle aims at explaining Sørensen's work with an interactive quiz where one can guess the pH scale in different items.