Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Q4What are indicators . mention few common indicators and their colour changes in acids and
bases
Ans. A chemical that changes colour and helps in identification of an acidic, basic and neutral
substances. Indicators can be either natural (extracted from plants) or synthetic Many natural dyes found
in fruits, vegetables, and flowers act as indicators, too. For example, red cabbage extracts changes red in
acidic solution and blue in basic solution.
Common indicators include:
o Litmus: A dye extracted from various species of lichen that changes colour in acidic and
basic medium
o Phenolphthalein: A synthetic indicator that changes colour in the basic range.
o Methyl orange: A synthetic indicator that changes colour in the acid.
INDICATOR COLOUR INACID COLOUR IN NEUTRAL COLOUR
SOLUTION INBASE
Litmus red purple blue
Phenolphthalein Colourless Colourless pink
Methyl orange orange Colourless yellow
Acids Bases
Taste Sour Bitter
Feel . concentrated acids can cause skin burn. . concentrated bases can cause skin burn.
. care should be taken when handling acids. . care should be taken when handling bases.
. bases often feel slippery or soapy.
Reaction Acid turns blue litmus paper red Base turns red litmus paper blue
to
Litmus
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------