Course Code <Course Code>

Description General Chemistry I

Laboratory 003 Title of
Exercise Activity Acids and Bases and Solubility Equilibria
No.
Page 1 of 10
LABORATORY EXERCISE

This experiment aims to classify common household items into acids or bases using a simple indicator.
Using the same household items, acid-base reactions will also be shown through a simple experiment.

Objective/s:
At the end of this activity, the students are expected to have been able to:
 Make a simple indicator to help identify acids and bases;
 Classify common household items as acids and bases;
 Perform a simple acid-base reaction;
 Identify the chemical equation and predict the products based on the reaction.

Part I.

Material/s Needed:
 Red cabbage
 Lemon juice (model sample for acid)
 Soapy water (model sample for base)
 Drinking water
 Milk
 Soda (Coca-cola® or Pepsi®)
 Vinegar
 Baking powder
 Baking soda
 Tomato/ tomato juice
 Vitamin C in water
 Salt in water
 Brown sugar in water
 Shampoo
 Detergent
 Bleach
 Dropper (for each item, and another one for the red cabbage)
 White plates or similar items (flat surface with white background where you can drop liquids)
 Tissue or clean cloth for wiping spills
 Glass jar
 Pot*
 Stove*
 Knife*

1
 Course Code <Course Code>

Description General Chemistry I

Laboratory 003 Title of
Exercise Activity Acids and Bases and Solubility Equilibria
No.
Page 2 of 10
LABORATORY EXERCISE

*Please ask help from adults if necessary, especially when handling these items.

NOTE: Set up your video camera. Take your video while you are doing the activity. You will submit this as
your output for the activity.

Procedure:
1. Take a red cabbage and slice it into small pieces.
2. Place them in a pot and fill with enough water to cover the pieces.
3. Heat mixture on a stove and boil for 30 minutes.
4. Cool then collect the red cabbage juice into a glass jar.
The boiled cabbage is still edible, so if you want to use it as an ingredient for any meal, you can.
5. Using a dropper, place 2-3 drops of lemon juice onto a white plate.
6. Using another dropper, add 1-2 drops of the red cabbage juice.
7. Record if any color change happens.
8. Repeat steps 5 to 7, for soapy water and the remaining materials (from drinking water to bleach).
9. Record all observations on the table provided.

Questions: (to be answered within the video)

1. What happened when the red cabbage was boiled?
a. Nothing happened.
b. The cabbage turned transparent.
c. A bluish violet juice was extracted from the cabbage.
d. A red extract was collected from the boiled cabbage.

2. What color change occurred when the red cabbage juice was mixed with the lemon juice (acid)?
a. no change
b. blue turns red
c. blue turns yellow
d. blue turns green

3. What color change occurred when the red cabbage juice was mixed with the soapy water (base)?
a. blue turns red
b. blue turns green
c. no change
d. blue turns yellow

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 Course Code <Course Code>

Description General Chemistry I

Laboratory 003 Title of
Exercise Activity Acids and Bases and Solubility Equilibria
No.
Page 3 of 10
LABORATORY EXERCISE

Part II.

Material/s Needed:

 Baking soda
 Vinegar
 Mixing bowl
 Measuring spoon
 Goggles (or other eye protection)
 Laboratory coat (or another layer of protective clothing)
 Closed shoes
 Gloves

NOTE: Set up your video camera. Take your video while you are doing the activity. You will submit this as
your output for the activity.

Procedure:
Place a spoonful of baking soda into the mixing bowl. Slowly add a spoonful of vinegar into the baking
soda. Observe what happens.

Questions: (to be answered within the video)

1. What happened when the two ingredients were mixed?

a. Bubbling occurred.
b. Nothing happened.
c. The mixture turned black.
d. The baking soda became a solid.

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 Course Code <Course Code>

Description General Chemistry I

Laboratory 003 Title of
Exercise Activity Acids and Bases and Solubility Equilibria
No.
Page 4 of 10
LABORATORY EXERCISE

2. Which of the following is an acceptable conclusion based on your answer in Question 1.

a. One of the possible products of the reaction is a gas.
b. Both reagents are not reactive with each other.
c. Combustion occurred since the mixture turned black (something burned).
d. The vinegar caused a chemical change on the baking soda, turning it into a solid object.

3. Which of the reacting ingredients is an acid?

a. Acid – baking soda
b. Acid – vinegar
c. Not enough information to identify.
d. Both are acids.

4. Which of the reacting ingredients is a base?

a. Base – vinegar
b. Base – baking soda
c. Not enough information to identify.
d. Both are bases.

5. How did you identify the acid and the base?

a. Based on the previous experiment.
b. Based on taste.
c. Based on smell.
d. I am not sure.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE STUDENTS:

 Save your video file in “.mp4” or “.avi” format only.
 The filename of your video should be:
“<Last Name>, <First Name> - Laboratory Exercise 0<XX>”
 Upload your video to any video sharing website such as YouTube and Vimeo.
 Paste the link of your uploaded file on the space provided for it in the LMS.

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 Course Code <Course Code>

Description General Chemistry I

Laboratory 003 Title of
Exercise Activity Acids and Bases and Solubility Equilibria
No.
Page 5 of 10
LABORATORY EXERCISE

Laboratory Quiz:

By using the color chart shown in Figure 1, rate the intensity of the color change you observed
when mixing the red cabbage juice with the household items. Classify the household items as
acids or bases by completing the table below

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Figure 1. Range of color change possibly seen using the red cabbage juice as an indicator.
http://www.funsci.com/fun3_en/acids/acids_15.gif

Household Items Acid, Base or Neutral?

1 Lemon juice 10
2 Soapy water 10
3 Drinking water 3
4 Milk 10
5 Soda (Coca-cola® or Pepsi®) 10
6 Vinegar 10
7 Baking powder 10
8 Baking soda 10
9 Tomato/ tomato juice 4
10 Vitamin C in water 4
11 Salt in water 3
12 Brown sugar in water 1
13 Shampoo 1
14 Detergent 1
15 Bleach 1

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 Course Code <Course Code>

Description General Chemistry I

Laboratory 003 Title of
Exercise Activity Acids and Bases and Solubility Equilibria
No.
Page 6 of 10
LABORATORY EXERCISE

16. What is an indicator?

a. An indicator is a solution (or a compound) that changes color when mixed with an acid or a
base.
b. An indicator changes the color of the acid when mixed with a base.
c. An indicator hastens the reaction between an acid and a base.
d. An indicator slows down the reaction between an acid and a base.
Answer: A.

17. Is the reaction between the household ingredient and the indicator an example of a reversible
acid-base reaction?
a. Yes. You can change the indicator back to its starting color by adding either an acid or a
base.
b. No. Once the indicator changes, it can no longer be returned to its original color.
c. It depends on the household ingredient. If it is a strong acid or base, then it is not
reversible.
d. Not enough information.
Answer: A.

18. What is the similarity between water and the red cabbage juice?
a. They can both resist drastic changes in pH.
b. They can act both as an acid and as a base, depending on the other reacting compound.
c. They are both acids.
d. They are both bases.
Answer: B.

For Questions 19-27, refer to Part II of the experiment.

19. What is the acid found in the ingredients?

a. Acetic acid
b. Hydrochloric acid
c. Citric acid
d. Phosphoric acid
Answer: A.

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 Course Code <Course Code>

Description General Chemistry I

Laboratory 003 Title of
Exercise Activity Acids and Bases and Solubility Equilibria
No.
Page 7 of 10
LABORATORY EXERCISE

20. What is the base found in the ingredients?

a. Sodium hydroxide
b. Potassium hydroxide
c. Sodium bicarbonate
d. Sodium chloride
Answer: C.

21. What is the correct acid-base reaction?

a. HCl + NaHCO3  NaCl + H2CO3
b. CH3COOH + NaOH  NaCH3COO + H2O
c. CH3COOH + KOH  KCH3COO + H2O
d. CH3COOH + NaHCO3  NaCH3COO + H2CO3
Answer: D.

22. What are the products formed?

a. sodium chloride and carbonic acid
b. sodium acetate and water
c. potassium acetate and water
d. sodium acetate and carbonic acid
Answer: A.

23. Carbonic acid is easily converted into water and _______, hence the fizzing and bubbling during the
reaction.
H2CO3  H2O + ______
a. CO – carbon monoxide
b. CO3 – carbonate
c. CO2 – carbon dioxide
d. C – carbon
Answer: C.

24. Will sodium acetate dissolve in water or will it form a precipitate?

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 Course Code <Course Code>

Description General Chemistry I

Laboratory 003 Title of
Exercise Activity Acids and Bases and Solubility Equilibria
No.
Page 8 of 10
LABORATORY EXERCISE

a. It will dissolve in water.

b. It will precipitate.
Answer: A.

25. What will be the chemical equation for the dissolution or ionization of sodium acetate?
a. NaCH3COO  NaOH + CH2CO
b. NaCH3COO  Na+ + CH3COO-
c. NaCH3COO  Na- + CH3COO+
d. None of the above
Answer: D.

26. If instead of vinegar, lemon juice was used, what will you observe?
a. Nothing, because lemon juice is a base.
b. Nothing, because lemon juice is an acid.
c. There will be bubbling too, since lemon juice is a base.
d. There will be bubbling too, since lemon juice is an acid.
Answer: D.

27. What is the acid found in lemon juice?

a. hydrochloric acid
b. acetic acid
c. citric acid
d. sulfuric acid
Answer: C.

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 Course Code <Course Code>

Description General Chemistry I

Laboratory 003 Title of
Exercise Activity Acids and Bases and Solubility Equilibria
No.
Page 9 of 10
LABORATORY EXERCISE

Rubric for Checking

Criteria (%) 4 3 2 1

Participation Used time well in Used time pretty Did the lab but Participation was
(30%) lab and focused well. Stayed did not appear minimal or
attention on the focused on the very interested. student was
experiment experiment most Focus was lost on hostile about
of the time several participating
occasions.

Safety (10%) Lab is carried out Lab is generally Lab is carried out Safety
with full attention carried out with with some procedures were
to relevant safety attention to attention to ignored and/or
procedures. The relevant safety relevant safety some aspect of
set-up, procedures. The procedures. The the experiment
experiment, and set-up, set-up, posed a threat to
tear-down posed experiment, and experiment, and the safety of the
no safety threat to tear-down posed tear-down posed student or
any individual. no safety threat no safety threat others.
to any individual, to any individual,
but one safety but several safety
procedure needs procedures need
to be reviewed. to be reviewed.

Data collection Measurements Measurements Measurements Measurements

(10%) are both accurate are accurate with are somewhat are incomplete,
and precise. reasonable inaccurate and inaccurate and
Observations are precision. very imprecise. imprecise.
very thorough and Observations are Observations are Observations are
may recognize thorough. Work incomplete or incomplete or not
possible errors in is generally neat recorded in a included.
data collection. and organized. confusing way. Symbols, units
Work is neat and Includes There are 3 or and significant
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 Course Code <Course Code>

Description General Chemistry I

Laboratory 003 Title of
Exercise Activity Acids and Bases and Solubility Equilibria
No.
Page 10 of 10
LABORATORY EXERCISE

organized. symbols, units more minor figures are not

Includes and significant errors using included.
appropriate digits. symbols, units
symbols, units and significant
and significant digits or 2 major
digits. errors.
Calculations All calculations Some Some No calculations
(40%) are shown and the calculations are calculations are are shown OR
results are correct shown and the shown and the results are
and labeled results are results labeled inaccurate or
appropriately. correct and appropriately. mislabeled.
labeled
appropriately.

Conclusion (10%) Conclusion Conclusion Conclusion No conclusion

includes whether includes whether includes what was included in
the findings the findings was learned from the report OR
supported the supported the the experiment. shows little effort
hypothesis, hypothesis and and reflection.
possible sources what was learned
of error, and what from the
was learned from experiment.
the experiment.

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