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Bases and Acids Objective: To determine if common household substance are acids, bases or neutral. Standards: Materials: Litmus paper Lemon Juice Bleach (ammonia) Diet Pepsi Mouthwash Hand Soap Spoilsport Alcohol 70% Baking Soda Solution Coffee Apple cider Red Wine Vinegar Tap water Filtered water Safety and Disposal: Material Hazard Disposal Ammonia (bleach) White cloudy solution. Strong ammonia odor. Mildly toxic by ingestion and inhalation. Irritating to body tissues. Lachrymose. Avoid all body tissue contact.
Spoilsport Alcohol Clear, colorless solution. Rubbing alcohol-like odor. Irritant to body tissues. Slightly toxic by ingestion and inhalation. The single lethal dose for a human adult is about 400 ml, although as little as 150 ml can be fatal. Although spoilsport alcohol is slightly toxic by definition, teachers should be alert to students attempting to drink this “alcohol” on a dare. Procedure 1. Obtain all materials 2. Take pH strip and cut it into pieces big enough to test the pH’s of each material 3.
The household items red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, coffee, spoilsport alcohol, hand soap, mouthwash, diet Pepsi, and lemon Juice are all acids. I know this because all of the pH levels are below 7, and any pH level below 7 are acids. 2. The solutions Baking Soda and ammonia are bases because they have a pH level above 7 ND all pH levels above 7 are bases. 3. Many household foods are acid base indicators. An example would be beets, which go from red to purplish is a basic solution. Conclusion: substances by different pH’s using litmus paper, to get the pH levels.
All of the substances under 7 red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, coffee, spoilsport alcohol, hand soap, mouthwash, diet Pepsi, and lemon Juice are all acids because they are under 7. Tap and Filtered water are both neutral because there pH’s are 7. The Baking Soda Solution and Ammonia are both Alkali and bases because they are above 7 for pH levels. H levels of household items relates to the real world because they are items we use in our everyday life and they affect our lives as well.
Coffee which is an acid stains your teeth making them turn yellow and the acidity of lemon Juice breaks down enamel of your teeth. The pH household item lab forced me to use the school-wide expectations. I access and gathered information through reading, writing , listening and use of technology because I had to look up my pH level scale online so I could determine the pH level of each substance from the litmus paper. I had to critically analyze information by determining the pH levels on the chart.
I had to utilize effective problem-solving strategies because when I was using the bleach and I didn’t want to get bleach on my skin, I used a toothpick to transfer the bleach onto the litmus paper. I had to communicate effectively with my peers to discuss the lab and compare our strategies of getting different pH’s. I applied the last school-wide expectation to apply knowledge, skills and values learned in a wide variety of disciplines because I used the World of Chemistry tips and information and used it in my lab to really understand what a base and acid are in household items.