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How can you test if our water is acidic?
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Question Date: 2006-02-16 | | Answer 1:
One fun way to test if something is acidic, is to
make your own pH indicator solution using red
cabbage leaves. (Something is acidic if it has a
pH less than 7) Here's an experiment you can do
yourself in your kitchen: First you'll need a
supply of water that you know isn't very acidic,
bottled water will usually work. Boil some red
cabbage leaves in the water until the water turns
purplish red. (You may want to have a parent help
you there) Let the water cool, and then you've
just made your own pH indicator solution! The
cabbage water will change color if you add
something acidic, or basic.Pour a little bit of
the cabbage water into 3 small bowls. You can
test to see what your cabbage water will look like
when you add acid by adding some vinegar, which is
really acidic, to one of the bowls. Now to see
what the cabbage water does when something is
basic, add a little baking soda to a different
bowl. To test your water, add a little bit of the
water you want to test to the last bowl. By
comparing the color of the cabbage water in the
last bowl with the color in the other two bowls
you should be able to determine whether or not
your water is acidic.Good Luck!! | | Answer 2:
The easiest way to test if water is acidic is to
use litmus paper.Litmus paper is a paper that
contains special dyes that will change color when
exposed to acids or bases. In your case, if you
dip blue litmus paper into water samples and it
turns pink or red, then the water is acidic.
Conversely, you could use red litmus paper to test
if it is basic (it will turn blue). There are
also different types of pH papers that can be used
to check over a range of pH levels, meaning that
you could use those strips to test if a solution
is acidic or basic. There are also more
sophisticated measurement probes that could also
be used for more exact measurements of the pH
level.Hope this helps, | | Answer 3:
This is very easy to do. Take some pH paper and
dip it in the water. Look at the change in color
of the paper and use the provided color guide to
determine the pH that corresponds with the color
of the paper. If the pH is below 7 it is acidic.
The lower it is the more acidic. pH paper
contains whats called an indicator chemical that
will turn a specific color depending on the
acidity or basicity of the solution it is dipped
in. There are a lot of indicator chemicals. One
of the most common pH indicators is litmus paper.
Litmus turns red in acidic solutions below pH 4.7
and blue in basic solutions above pH 8.1.
Universal indicator pH paper would be the most
ideal for testing your water because these
indicators undergo several color changes over a
wide range of pH values. | | Answer 4:
You could use a pH test strip. If you're
interested in water analyses, I recommend that you
stop by the Ty Warner Sea Center on the
Wharf--there is an exhibit where you get to test
the acidity (called pH) of the water, its salinity
and its density, and the water generally being
tested comes from right under the wharf (the ocean!). Click Here to return to the search form.
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