My son goes to an umbrella school and one of the ways he can earn "extra credit" (for a trip to a local water park) is to test things with Litmus Paper. Well, I have the Litmus Paper but I am unsure where to go from there....I want him to understand (at least somewhat) what we are testing for. Anyone know of a site that would help me explain it to a 5 year old??? Thanks!!
You are checking for a substances pH. The pH scale ranges from 0-14. Between 0-7 is acidic, 7 is neutral, and 7-14 is basic. For stuff around the house, things that will test acidic include vinegar and lemon juice. Things that are cleaners usually test as bases. Water should test neutral. There should be instructions as to how to tell. I think I recall that the paper turns blue for bases, and red for acids. If it doesn't turn either, it's neutral. Carol
You could also do some simple acid base experiments - like adding baking soda(base) to vinegar(acid)- use the litmus paper befor and after and use two negative controls (test the vinegar alone and test a baking sode/water mixture alone) That might help kick in the idea of what acids and bases do.
