pH Lab

In Science, we have been doing a lab about pH. pH is the measure of how acidic or basic a solution is. It measures how many hydronium ions are present in the solution. The more hydronium ions, the more acidic. The less hydronium ions, the more basic. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14, 0 being a very strong acid, 7 being neutral, and 14 being a very strong base. An example of a common acid is vinegar, or citric acid found in fruits. An example of a base is soap or an antacid.
In the lab we did, Ms. Miller gave us 18 different liquids and we had to determine if they were an acid or a base using blue and red litmus paper and cabbage juice. Litmus paper changes color according to whether it is an acid or base. Blue litmus paper will turn red if the solution is an acid and red litmus paper will turn blue if it is a base. We used both colors to help us test each solution. Cabbage juice has a natural indicator in it that reacts with different liquids. In addition to numbers, the pH scale also contains colors raging from red to pink, red being an acid, blue being neutral, and pink being a base. Cabbage juice will change the color of the solution you mix it with and match with the colors on the pH scale. After testing all the solutions with the litmus paper and the cabbage juice, we recorded all the data we collected about the pH of the liquids.