🥬 CABBAGE pH INDICATOR
🧪 YOUR LAB CHECKLIST
Science buddy, grab a grown-up before you use the stove or handle hot liquid. Work on a stable counter with oven mitts ready. This comic explains why cabbage juice changes color.
- 🥬 Red cabbage: a few outer leaves or a quarter head, chopped small
- 💧 Water: enough to cover cabbage in a pot (about two cups)
- 🍋 Lemon juice or vinegar: acid test sample in a small cup
- 🧂 Baking soda mixed with water: base test sample in another cup
- 🥽 Clear cups, strainer, and tongs for pouring cool purple indicator safely
Time: about 40 min · Adult supervision required · One jar of purple indicator plus two color-change demos
PAGE 1 OF 5 · THE pH SCALE
ACID VS BASE
SOUR TO SOAPY
Scientists rank how acidic or basic a liquid is using the pH scale, usually from 0 to 14. Low numbers mean more acidic, like lemon juice and vinegar. Seven is neutral, close to plain water. High numbers mean more basic (also called alkaline), like baking soda in water. Acids donate hydrogen ions; bases soak them up. Many reactions, including the ones in your body, depend on keeping pH in a safe range. Cabbage juice can show that range with color.
pH!
ACID
🍋 Acids taste sour and rank below pH 7 on the scale.
BASE
🧂 Bases feel slippery in water and rank above pH 7.