Acids and Bases

Some people drink a full glass of acid at

breakfast every morning. Do you? If you drink
orange juice, then youre drinking acid.
When you hear acids and bases, you
might think of something dangerous or
something that only mad scientists use. This is
not true. Acids and bases are everywhere: in the food you eat, in
your house, in super markets, and even inside your body! So lets
see what acids and bases really are.

Acid
Most things that taste sour are acids. Acids have different
strengths. The stronger the acid, the better it is at dissolving
things. For example, acid in your stomach (hydrochloric acid) is
so strong that it breaks down the food you eat. Also, you get
tooth cavities because germs feed on bits of food that you forget
to brush off and make a strong acid that melts your teeth.

Base
Bases are the opposites of acids (you will see what this
means a little later). Like acids, bases have different strengths,
and stronger bases dissolve things better than weaker ones.
Strong bases are commonly used to clean water pipes and other
surfaces.

Neutral
So acids and bases are opposites of each other. What this
means is that when you mix an acid and a base that are equally
strong, they cancel each other out. This is called neutralization.
Neutralization makes something that is neither acidic nor basic;
this is called neutral. Pure water is neutral.

Experiments
Egg Experiment:
Its time to see what happened to our eggs from
last week! Have your mentor give you and your
partner your box and observe what happened to
your egg.
Why do you think the shell
disappeared?
How would you tell if something is an acid or base? Some
weak acids like orange juice and lemonade taste sour. Some weak
bases, like soap, feel slippery to the touch. But strong acids and
bases are dangerous, so we cant touch or taste to tell if
something is an acid or base. But dont worry, we have something
called indicators. Indicators are chemicals that change color in
acids and bases. We will use an indicator made from red cabbage.
When red cabbage juice (indicator) is added to an acid, the liquid
turns pink. When it is added to a base, it turns blue-green. When
it is added to a neutral liquid, it does not change color. So by the
color of the indicator, you can tell if something is an acid or a
base.
Neutralization Experiment:
This week during our testing for acids and bases we have acidic
and basic controls. We will start with an experiment using both of
our controls.
Materials:
Red cabbage juice
Droppers
Vinegar
Aluminum Foil (spread on
Baking Soda
desk)
Cups

Method:
1. Place a small amount of baking soda in the cup and add a
few drops of cabbage juice. Note the color.
2. Do the same in another cup with the vinegar. These are
your positive controls for base (baking soda) and acid
(vinegar).
3. Add a few drops of cabbage juice to water. This is your
negative control for acids and bases.
4. Now you are going to neutralize your baking soda with acid.
Add vinegar to your baking soda and cabbage juice cup until
the color of the indicator changes. How do you know when
it is neutral? How do you know when it has become acidic?
Indicator Testing Materials:
Red cabbage juice
Detergent
Vitamin C
Lime Juice
Honey
Tums
Cornstarch

Soda
Egg Whites
Droppers
Cups
Aluminum Foil
desk)

(spread

on

Method:
1. Get a small portion of each unknown. Add a few drops of
indicator solution and note the color change, if any.
2. Fill out the chart below with as many unknowns as you can.
Unknown
Indicator Color
Acid, Base or Neutral?
Vinegar
Baking Soda
Water
Detergent
Vitamin C
Lime Juice
Honey
Tums
Cornstarch

Soda
Egg White

Questions
1. When milk rots, is it getting more acidic or basic?

2. Why is acid rain bad?

3. What would happen if you put sprinkle baking soda onto sweet
and sour pork? Why do you put baking soda into cake dough?

4. You get a heart burn when your stomach makes too much acid.
What kind of drugs can you take to cure this (acid or base)?