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Question

A student prepared solutions of (i) an acid and (ii) a base in two separate beakers. She forgot to label the solutions and litmus paper is not available in the laboratory. Since both the solutions are colourless, how will she distinguish between the two ?


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Solution

Acid:

Lowry-Bronsted explained acid as a proton donor because acid is any hydrogen-containing substance or compound that is capable of donating a proton (hydrogen ion) to another substance. In water solution, acids taste sour and react with bases to form salts. On litmus paper testing, acid turn blue litmus paper to red.

Bases:

Lowry-Bronsted explained base as a proton acceptor because the base molecules or ions are able to accept a hydrogen ion from an acid. In water solution, the bases taste bitter and react with acids to form salts. On litmus paper testing, bases turn red litmus paper to blue.

The student follows the following method to find the nature of the solutions:

  1. Students can use phenolphthalein which is an indicator in acid-base titrations, it turns colorless in acidic solutions and pink color in basic solutions.
  2. Students can also use turmeric as a natural indicator. The turmeric paper turns red when it is dipped into a basic solution and does not change its color with acid.

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