What's the pH of vinegar containg 5% acetic acid? Vinegar generally contains 5% acetic acid. We would expect the pH of vinegar to be approximately:
  a. 0
  b. 3
  c. 7
  d. 9
  e. 12


I don't have the key for this question, so I just want to make sure that I got it right and what I got doesn't seem to be one of the answer choices.

My answer was 1.3, so I rounded it to 1 and there wasn't an answer choice. Here is what I did:

$$\log(.05/1) = -1.3010$$

How else would you do it because you were already given the final concentration from the original concentration?

Am I missing something here?

Edit: The professor said to use this formula for calculating it:

$$K_\mathrm{a} = \frac{(.05x)^2}{x}$$ 

and got 3, which made no sense, any way this is possible?
Consider the choices. Since it's acetic acid, you can rule out any pH values that indicate a basic or neutral solution. Knowing that acetic acid is a weak acid and that vinegar is a fairly dilute solution, you can also rule out any pH values that would indicate either a strong acid or a highly concentrated solution. Eliminating those impossible values leaves only one choice as the answer.

The trick with a question like this is to realize that it's multiple choice for a reason. It's intended to be a conceptual problem, not a calculation problem. In general, a good rule for multiple-choice questions like this is to first see if you can solve it using general concepts; only if you can't should you reach for you calculator.