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Last week we wrote a science report on acids and bases. We also did a science experiment with them. Here is my report:
Acids and Bases
Questions:
What are acids and bases? What is the difference? What can acids and bases do?
Research Summary:
When you know an object is acidic it is under 7 on the scale and if it is basic it is over 7.
What is the difference? Well if an object is acidic then it will be able to burn/melt through other
objects. For instance, if it is 1 on the scale then that means it could burn through a table, and if it
was basic then it could not.
An example could be if you were to brush your teeth then after having a drink of juice. It wouldn’t
taste very nice because toothpaste is slightly acidic where as juice is basic. The bad taste
comes from the two neutralizing.
There are two elements that makeup water (H2O) which is Hydrogen and Oxygen. You may have
noticed that water that you drink at school or work may taste different from the water from the tap
at home. Why is this? Well it tastes different because in some water every part of the H2O may
be exactly how it’s supposed to be, 2 hydrogen and 1 oxygen. In times one of the hydrogen may
disconnect and float by itself, but then later joins another H2O and becomes H3O. That is why our
water may taste different from others.
Hypothesis:
When the two chemicals react, some will change to a different colour, while some may just stay
the same or lighten or darken.
Materials:
Beaker, Pipettes, Flask(?), Beaker Stand, Cabbage Juice, Sprite, Ammonia, White Vinegar,
Lemon Juice, Alcohol, Baking Soda.
Procedure:
1. Set aside the indicator solution. We used it as our "stock" solution for our experiments.
2. Secondly, we tested various household solutions with our indicator. We used one beaker for each
solution we want to test because we don’t want to mix chemicals that don’t go well together.
3. Then we placed an equal portion of indicator solution and the test liquid (e.g. Sprite) into a
beaker, we used a pipette to measure.
4. Next, we added drops of a liquid we wanted to test until we saw the solution change colour.
5. We then recorded what we had observed of the pH and a description of each solution we used
with the indicator solution.
Observations/Results:
Hypothesised pH | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 8 |
Estimated pH | 5 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 8 & 10 |
Actual pH | 3.29 | 11.6 | 2.5 | 2 | 7.3 | 8 |
Observed Colour | Light Purple | Dark Teal | Dark Pink | Magenta | Dark Purple (Slightly Lightened | Dark and Light Blue |
Chemical/Product | Sprite | Ammonia | White Vinegar | Lemon Juice | Alcohol | Baking Soda |
Dependent Variable(s): | Independent Variable(s): | Control Variables: |
| | Sprite: 2.5 x3 Ammonia: 2.5 x3 White Vinegar: 2.5 x3 Lemon Juice: 2.5 x3 Alcohol: 2.5 x3 Baking Soda: 1 teaspoon |
Discussion:
I thought it was really cool and interesting how they changed colour and what colours they
changed too. Some of them I expected to adjust to that colour, but then others I didn’t.
When we did the baking soda, I thought it was fascinating how some of the Cabbage Juice
was soaked in by the baking soda and was turned into a light blue. Then there was the rest of
the Juice on top and was dark blue.
Conclusion:
My hypothesis was very accurate, and I learnt quite a bit. I thought it was interesting how each chemical had a very different texture and colour. I learned that when mixing a liquid with any household liquids can have a very different reaction (and that ammonia is deadly).
Here are some pictures of our experiment:





Have you done a science experiment before? If so how did it go?
So that's it folks, See you next time! :3