LAB 1 : RED CABBAGE INDICATOR Aim To determine which chemicals are bases and which are acids. Apparatus Required Water Red cabbage leaves Gas burner Beakers Test tubes pipets Procedure 1. Cut the cabbage leaves into small pieces. 2. Boil separate cups of water as they will be required to submerge your pieces later on. 3. Place the cabbage pieces into a bowl and pour the water in the bowl. Keep it for several minutes so that the cabbage pieces get soaked. You can also use a mixer to grind the leaves and obtain a solution. 4. If you are not using the mixture then separate the juice from the leaves. 5. Take glass jars and place them about two inches apart. Pour every chemical (lemon juice, vinegar, detergent and soda) into each jar. 6. Now to determine whether the substance is a base or an acid pour the cabbage juice into each jar. Here, if the mixture turns pink or red the chemical is an acid and if it turns bluish-green the chemical is usually a base. Results Substance Acidic or basic Color Change Create a Lab report for this experiment. Questions: 1. What molecule present in the red cabbage is responsible for the color change at various pH? 2. Using the cabbage indicator, what color represents a. A weak acid b. A strong base c. A neutral solution 3. What differences do you notice when comparing red cabbage indicator to a universal indicator?
