Neutralizing acids and bases

In science we have began our topic on acids and bases. Part of this involves learning about the PH scale, types of indicators, and neutralization.  We did an experiment on how to neutralize an acid.

Neutralizing Acids and Bases

Aim: Neutralize Sodium Carbonate using Hydrochloric Acid

Equipment: 

• Test tube
• Test tube rack
• Sodium Carbonate 
• Hydrochloric acid 
• Dropper bottle/pipette 
• Universal indicator solution 

Method

1. Place 1-2 mL of Sodium Carbonate into test tube. Add 3 drops of universal indicator
2. Using a dropper bottle add Hydrochloric Acid and Sodium Carbonate one at a time until the solution is neutralized. You'll need to do this in drops otherwise you could potentially miss the neutralization point.

Your liquid will be green if it has been successfully neutralized.

Discussion

It took a while for the liquid to actually change color at first, but it eventually did. I also noticed that if you put too much liquid in it will be harder to mix while if there's two little liquid it will mix too easily. I would say you should go for just below a 1/4 of the tube and then slowly add more of the base and acid until it's green

Conclusion

Even though it took a while until it hit the neutralizing point it eventually did. This means we completed our aim. 

Why green is the neutralizing point

The PH scale and indicators

The PH scale is a scale from 1 to 14 and is used to tell if something is either an acid or a base. 1 is violet and means that the liquid is a base while if it's 14 and red, then the liquid is an acid. The middle is 7 which is green and means that the liquid contains roughly equal amount of acid (Hydrachloric acid) and base (Sodium carbonate). This will turn the universal indicator green which means that the liquid is neutralized.

Alkaline is another name for a base.

To figure out if something is a either a base or acid, we use indicators. There are various indicators but the most popular one is the universal indicator. The universal indicator is a solution that you only need a couple of drops (depending on how much liquid there is). This indicator also gives you one of the most exact results and can show whether it's slightly acidic or sightly basic. The second most popular is litmus paper. Litmus paper are strips of paper that are either red or blue. Let's take blue litmus paper for example, when you dip it into the liquid and it stays blue, it's a base, if it changes red, it's a acid and vice versa for the red litmus paper.