You can go your whole life without paying any attention to the chemistry behind acids and bases. But you use acids and bases all the time! They are all around you. We identify acids and bases by measuring their pH.


Every liquid has a pH. If you pay particular attention to this lab, you will even be able to identify most acids and bases and understand why they do what they do. Acids range from very strong to very weak. The strongest acids will dissolve steel. The weakest acids are in your drink box. The strongest bases behave similarly. They can burn your skin or you can wash your hands with them.


Acid rain is one aspect of low pH that you can see every day if you look for it. This is a strange name, isn’t it? We get rained on all the time. If people were dissolving, if the rain made their skin smoke and burn, you’d think it would make headlines, wouldn’t you? The truth is acid rain is too weak to harm us except in very rare and localized conditions. But it’s hard on limestone buildings.


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Comments

14 Responses to “Making Litmus Solution and Paper”

  1. Aurora Lipper says:

    Please visit the main page for Unit 15 for recommended chemistry kits.

  2. Aurora Lipper says:

    It is best to use a new strip of litmus paper each time.

  3. suzanne_mangeri says:

    Were can you find the chemistry kits?

  4. suzanne_mangeri says:

    Can you use the same piece of litmus paper twice?

  5. Yes I’ll get the rest of the info up for this Unit this week, thanks for your patience!

  6. kristinper says:

    I know you are in the process of updating chemistry videos. We got the C1000 kit — will this video remain on the website so that we can reference it while using that kit?

  7. renatavergilis says:

    Thank you so much! 🙂
    Nate (8)

  8. Yes, ethyl will work. Denatured alcohol is ethyl with a few additives.

  9. renatavergilis says:

    Will ethyl or isopropyl alcohol work?
    Thanks!
    Nate(8)

  10. renatavergilis says:

    Thanks a lot! 🙂
    Nate (8)

  11. At the pharmacy or hardware store (look near the paint section).

  12. renatavergilis says:

    Where can I get denatured alcohol?
    Thanks!
    Nate

  13. The color of the litmus is going to change depending on the acidity of the water you used. Did you use tap water or distilled? Also the sodium hydrogen sulfate (AKA sodium bisulfate) is in the C3000 kit. You can get it inexpensively here if you need just that chemical: http://www.hometrainingtools.com/sodium-bisulfate-30-g

  14. Michelle Eckstein says:

    Hello!
    We got the CHEM C1000, I made the Litmus Solution and it’s purple, not blue, why is that? Also, the kit doesn’t have Sodium hydrogen sulfate (NaHSO4), Maybe it’s under a different name?
    Thanks!
    Phoebe (11)