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Acid or Base Experiment

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Many substances can be classified as either an acid or a base. Lemon juice is a weak acid and like most acids, it tastes sour. A base is the opposite of an acid.

A pH is a way to measure how acidic or base a liquid is. The value ranges from 0 and 7 for an acid and 7 to 14 for a base.

Some strong acids and bases can attack and irritate your skin, so you need to be careful.

This is a simple experiment to find out if a liquid is an acid or a base.

You will need:

  • half a red cabbage
  • some glasses or clear plastic cups
  • a kettle
  • two jugs or medium sized bowls
  • a couple of teaspoons
  • strainer
  • test liquids – we used lemon juice, vinegar, apple cider vinegar, coco-cola, soda water, bi-carb soda, salt, washing detergent, washing-up detergent, liquid soap, rubbing alcohol, and dettol

What to do:

  • Cut the cabbage into small pieces and place in the jug / bowl.
  • Cover the cabbage with boiling water and let it sit for 10 minutes. You could also use cold water, but you will need to let it sit for 45 minutes.
  • Strain the juice into another jug/bowl. This purple cabbage juice is your indicator and it is ready to use.
  • Pour equal amounts of the indicator into each of the glasses / plastic cups.

Slowly add your test liquids, one to each of the plastic cups.

Mix in the salt and the bi carb soda with a teaspoon.

The liquids should mix as they are poured in.

What happens to the colour of the indicator / cabbage water?

Our boys completed this worksheet, making their hypothesis before adding the solution to each of the cups.

 

You can download your free copy below:

*** Acid or Base Worksheet ***

Explanation: Red cabbage juice contains chemicals that change colour when mixed with certain other chemicals. When you add an acid to the cabbage juice, it will turn to a different shade of red, but when you add a base to the liquid, it will change to a blue or green colour.

 

What are some other solutions you could use when doing this experiment?

 

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Category: Homeschooling, Kids ActivitiesTag: Experiments, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Kindergarten, PreK, Preschool, Science

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. alicia

    November 14, 2014 at 11:57 am

    I loved these kinds of experiments when I was in elementary. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Katie @ Cup of Tea

    November 17, 2014 at 9:14 pm

    Cool! I love the worksheet as well – incorporating the hypothesis step. Pinned!

    Reply

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