Litmus Paper

 Today in science we are looking at litmus paper.

Litmus is a tree lichen fungi and is made into small paper strips or a liquid for testing acids or alkalines.

1. Blue litmus paper determines if something is acidic. It turns red in solutions with a pH less than 7.

2. Red litmus paper determines if something is alkaline. It turns blue in solutions with a pH greater than 7.

Litmus experiment:

Materials:
1. Red litmus paper
2. Blue litmus paper
3. Sodium hydroxide
4. Hydrochloric acid
5. pipette
6. 4 test tubes

Steps:
1. Rip the litmus paper in half and put half in each test tube.
2. Add 3 drops of hydrochloric acid to the red litmus paper in test tube 1.
3. Add 3 drops of hydrochloric acid in the blue litmus paper in test tube 2.
4. Add 3 drops of sodium hydroxide to the blue litmus paper in test tube 3.
5. Add 3 drops of sodium hydroxide to the red litmus paper in test tube 4.

Findings:

The blue litmus paper with hydrochloric acid went red
The red litmus paper with hydrochloric acid went didn't change
The red litmus paper with sodium hydroxide went blue. The water went yellow
The blue litmus paper with sodium hydroxide went didn't change.

Conclusion:
Blue litmus is an acidic
red litmus is alkaline.