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 ofthe 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!

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.

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.

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!).