A pH test is simply an indicator of how much hydrogen is in a substance. pH stands for potential Hydrogen. The easiest pH test consists of dipping a strip of litmus paper into the substance and determining the pH balance based on the color of the litmus paper. Most litmus paper comes with a color chart on the packaging. Litmus paper is derived from a plant mainly in South America called Roccella Tinctoria. Sometimes litmus paper indicators may not be readily available for everybody.
If for some reason you need to do a pH test but are unable to obtain litmus paper, you might consider creating your own pH test. The first thing you do is go to your local grocer and purchase a red cabbage. At home, cut the red cabbage into fourths. In other words, cut it in have once and then cut each half in half. Fill a pot halfway with water and put the red cabbage in it. Boil the water for 15 to 20 minutes. Discard the cabbage. You should now have a dark cabbage juice.
Juice from the red cabbage will act in much the same way as a litmus paper would. You take a dropper and put approximately 15 drops of the rich purple cabbage juice into the substance that requires the pH test. After letting it sit for a few moments, observe the color of the substance you are testing. If the substance turns to a red color that wasn’t red before, that means it has a high level of acid or potential Hydrogen. If it turns a yellow greenish color that means it’s pretty basic and doesn’t have any acid in it. If it turns a bluish color, it means it’s completely neutral and falls right in the middle of the pH scale.
The pH scale goes from level 0 to 14. Levels 0 through 7 are the most acidic. You might be interested in learning what the acid level is on some of your common household substances. Running this red cabbage pH test on several different household substances may be a fun chemistry experiment to do with your kids. Or you could always just do it for fun if you’re into chemistry. You might find that citric acid has a high level of acid but find it surprising that ammonia is quite basic meaning it doesn’t contain a lot of acid.
Keep in mind that the most important part of performing an experiment such as a pH test is the clean up. Remember that you’re dealing with chemicals such as household chemicals that are dangerous for your eyes. Any time you do an experiment where you are mixing chemicals, be sure to wear some sort of protective eye wear as chemicals and liquids have a tendency to splash and many chemicals can be very hazardous for your eyes. After you finish the experiment, be sure to clean up the mess and pay close attention to what chemicals you’re working with. Mixing some chemicals together can be explosive and you certainly don’t want that.