THE SCIENCE LAB

Make & Do Activity Kit

Homemade litmus paper

Litmus paper is used in many simple experiments to test for PH balance. When dipped into different substances it will turn different colour according to how acidic or basic it is. It is sometimes called acid-indicator paper.

Time: 1+ hrs Difficulty: Hints: Remember that some household substances

can be harmful to eyes and skin so this is an activity to do with adult permission and supervision.

or supervised step: 1. Adult some red cabbage Chop leaves into small pieces and place in a saucepan. Pour water over the cabbage and simmer for 20 minutes.

2. To prepare your test substances place each

separately in a dish or cup. Powdered substances need to be mixed with a little water. Label each clearly.
Pen and paper large plastic bowl a seive blotting or watercolour paper (cut into10cm x 3cm strips) old tea towel & paper

What you will need:

a chopping board a knife a saucepan 1 litre of water 1 dish or cup for each test substance (suggested list below)

3. When the red cabbage mixture has cooled, place

the seive over the large bowl, strain the cabbage and collecting the liquid. Allow to cool until warm. strip into the 4. Soak eachsollution and lay it cabbage onto the old tea towel to dry.

labelled 5. Arrange on scraptest dishes in a row paper. Place a litmus strip in front of each test dish. Dip each into a bowl for 5 seconds.

Household substances to test:

lemon juice shampoo orange juice white vinegar laundry detergent or powder bicarb soda tartaric acid or citric acid milk egg whites toothpaste lemonade tap water
500 Harris st. Ultimo

the colours change 6. Watch litmus papers. on the Compare them to the ph chart on page 3. Choose more substances to test from our suggestion list.
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THE SCIENCE LAB

Make & Do Activity Kit

Homemade litmus paper

Page 2

What else can i do?

Activity 1: Record your results.

Acid, neutral or base?

Whats going on?
Chemicals can be either an acid, a neutral or a base. In order to test if something is an acid or a base we can use an indicator. An indicator will change in colour when it goes from a neutral condition to an acidic or basic condition and can tell us the pH of different things. Red cabbage contains a natural pigment molecule called flavin which changes colour when it comes into contact with acids and bases. We call this chemical a pH indicator. The indicator changes from purple to bright pink in acids to blue or green in bases. Using the changing colours we can create a pH scale which numbers 1 to 14. When a chemical has a pH of 7 it is neither an acid or a base and it is called neutral. Water is considered neutral. It is important to note that the indicator itself might not be neutral. Lemon juice and vinegar are both acid so they will turn the litmus paper pink. Baking soda turns a green/blue colour indicating a base is present.

Recording test results is important for observing and comparing outcomes of different tests. It allows you to find answers to questions and come to conclusions. You have used strips of litmus paper to test substances around the house. Now create a result table to sort your findings into acids, neutrals and bases. Use the PH scale on the next page to order your test substances into acid, neutral and base by matching up the colours.

Activity 2: Create decorating craft paper.

This is a simple variation and results in beautifully colored paper that can be used for art projects like collages. Here is an example we prepared using a litmus paper painted with lemon juice, baking soda sollution and white vinegar.

500 Harris St Ultimo Tel: 02 6217 0111 This work is licensed under the Creative PO Box Haymarket NSW 1238 This work is PO Box K346 K346 Haymarket NSW 1238 http://play.powerhousemuseum.com licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionCommons Attribution-NonCommercialAustralia Tel: 02 9217 0111 NonCommercial 3.0 Australia Licence (CC BY-NC 3.0 AU) Australia ShareAlike 2.5 License.

500 Harris st. Ultimo

Creative Commons Licence for use of this work

http://play.powerhousemuseum.com

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/au/

THE SCIENCE LAB

Make & Do Activity Kit

Homemade litmus paper

Page 3

500 Harris St Ultimo Tel: 02 6217 0111 This work is licensed under the Creative PO Box Haymarket NSW 1238 This work is PO Box K346 K346 Haymarket NSW 1238 http://play.powerhousemuseum.com licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionCommons Attribution-NonCommercialAustralia Tel: 02 9217 0111 NonCommercial 3.0 Australia Licence (CC BY-NC 3.0 AU) Australia ShareAlike 2.5 License.

500 Harris st. Ultimo

Creative Commons Licence for use of this work

http://play.powerhousemuseum.com

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/au/