Household Acid and Base Indicators

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Household Acid and Base Indicators

• Joel Kreiner
• Beth Gallagher
• Vanessa Tyra
• Stephanie Arnold

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Task

• Our task was to find a household acid base
  indicator that we could use at home and find out
  how to use it to solve the mystery of the three
  bottles. 
• Then we were to identify which bottle, labeled
  1-3, was which so we wouldnt have to throw them
  away.

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• After being asked to find several indicators
  within my household we came up with these
  indicators
• Beet Juice
• Red Onion
• Red Cabbage
• Cherries
• Blueberries
• Baking Soda

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Beet Juice Indicator 1

• On the website we found that beet juice only
  changes from red to purple in very basic
  solutions.
• When we tested with each of the unmarked
  containers nothing happened, meaning that none of
  the bottles had a pH high enough to change the
  color of the beet juice.

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Red Onion Indicator 2

• One site told us that red onion changes from
  pale red in acidic solution to green in basic
  solution.
• When we tested the unmarked bottles with this
  indicator, one changed to pale red and one
  changed green, and one did not change color at
  all.
• With these results we now know that bottle one
  changed to pale red and that bottle two changed
  to green and bottle three did not change at all.

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Red Cabbage Indicator 3

• Red cabbage contains flavin which is a pigment
  molecule. You can determine the pH of something
  because the pigment changes when it is used with
  different acids or bases.
• When we tested the bottles and bottle three
  turned a slightly lighter color than the cabbage
  juice, bottle one turned a pinkish color, and
  bottle two turned a bluish color.

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Cherries Indicator 4

• Cherries turn bright red when acids are present,
  but purple to blue when bases are present.
• We found that bottle one changed to bright
  red, bottle two changed to blue, bottle three
  stayed the same.

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Blueberries Indicator 5

• Blueberries change from blue ( around pH
  2.8-3.2) to red in a strongly acidic solution.
• When we tested bottle one it changed from
  blue to red. Bottle two as well as bottle three
  did not change at all.

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Baking Soda Indicator 6

• Baking soda will fizz when added to an acidic
  solution but will not fizz in an alkaline
  solution.
• We found that with bottle one it fizzed
  rapidly, bottle two as well as bottle three
  produced no reaction.

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Results

• Based on what we tested by using the household
  indicators, these were our results
• Bottle 1 Acid, so it must be the vinegar.
• Bottle 2 Base, so it must be the household
  cleaner.
• Bottle 3 Neutral, so it must be water.

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The Best Indicator

• For our purposes, the red cabbage was the best
  household indicator because it covered a wide
  range of pH.
• We also found a valuable website that
  demonstrated the use of red cabbage as an
  indicator.

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Resources

• http//web.chemistry.gatech.edu/williams/bCourse_
  Information/red_cabbage_pH_indicator/cabbage.html
• www.usd.edu/bnoiva/cabbage.htm
• www.science.uwaterloo.ca/cchieh/cact/c123/indicat
  or.html
• http//chemistry.about.com/cs/acidsandbases/a/aa06
  0703a.htm/
• http//www.funsci.com/fun3_en/acids/acids.htm
• http//pbskids.org/zoom/games/kitchenchemistry/vi
  rtual-start.html
• http//antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/acidb
  ase/faq/household-indicators.shtml
• http//www.lawrencehallofscience.org/ChemMystery/
  indicator
• http//www.school-for-champions.com/science/chemac
  ids.htm
•  

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Questions? Comments?

• Are there any questions,
• comments, or stories?
• ???