PH testing

[deadonceagain]

i was woundering if you could test the qulity of a drug by testing the ph like for example coke if i mixed some coke in a littile water (first making sure that the water is at neutral level aka 7 on the ph scale)then tested the mixture with a ph strip would it work? also would the chemicals they cut the drugs with mess up the test or can i even use ph to test stuff like that

[mycoguy]

no

[EllisDTripp]

A cocaine hydrochloride solution in water will have an acidic pH (due to the HCl), but this is not a useful test for quality or purity...

[deadonceagain]

would PH testing work on any drug?

[EllisDTripp]

In short, no.

pH testing only determines the degree of acidity/alkalinity, not the chemical identity of a substance. If you are looking for a simple, crude test to help identify a substance or look for cuts, try a melting point test.

[gnrm23]

with pH being the negative of the logarithm of the concentration of the hydronium ion in aqueous solutions, with "neutral" (as in distilled deionized H20) defined (& calculated - y'know they had to conduct a poll of every water molecule in a liter of water ;) ) as 7.0...
a few of the H2O molecules dissociate into H+ ("free protons")(which form H3O+ ions, aka "hydronium") & OH- (hydroxyl group)

the "p" is negative log & the "H" is [H30+] or concentration of hydronium ion)

[SpliffVortex]

i just ask the local crack head for quality information "but very unreliable"

[geckopelli]

Try a melt point test.

If memory serves, cocaine HCL melts at 198 C.

If you can pass 185 C, you're kicking ass.

[EllisDTripp]

In addition to looking for the specific melting point of the substance being tested for, the RANGE of temperatures around the melting point is important, as well.

The purer a substance, the "sharper" the MP will be. Impurities cause a "broadening" of the melting point.