How can i determine whether things around the house is an acid or akalis?

Question

where can i get Litmus paper and other indicators?...

Answer 1

There are many types of pH indicators which will change color withint a certain range of pH values. Many of these indicators might be dificult for the "common person" to get a hold of though.

Using Litmus paper is an easy way to test the pH of a substance.
Based on the color change of the Litmus paper, a general idea of the pH can be determined.

One can also use other, natural, indicators.
For example, red cabbage contains a natural pH indicator which can be extracted by boiling (this will STINK up your whole house, best to do it outside of possible).
http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa012803a.htm

You can also get pH probles whcih work by placing an electrode into the solution to be measured and getting a reading off of the either digital display or, in the case of cheaper probles, the value the needle points to on the meter. Some of the "good qualitity" probles can be a little expensive, but a cheap substitute is a soil pH meter. Although soil pH metes are really not designed to be used to measure a solution's pH and only have a limited range, it can work well for many applications.

If you want to get a numeric value for the pH,
My advice is to go with the soil pH meter if you dont plan on measuring anything which will have pH values below roughly 3 or 4 and nothing higher than about 8 or 9. If you do plan to, you might want to go with a "real" pH meter.

If you just want a general range of the pH (whether something is just acidic or alkiline), then go with Litmus paper or some other form of cheap indicator (cabbage juice).

Answer 2

by using a litmus paper:Blue if alkalis, Red if acids.If u r planting some plants maybe u want the exact PH by using universal indicator. u take a 1cm3 sample from the ground , put in a test tube and add 10cm3 of water. add 1 cm3 of the universal indicator and shake well. Colors from red to yellow is acidic, green is neutral, baby blue to purple it is alkaline.

Answer 3

Litmus paper. It turns red/pink when in the presence of acid and blue when exposed to bases.

Answer 4

touch it ------------ ur burned its acid ,,, its cool its base
taste it-------------- its sour its acid,,, its bitter its base
smell it-------------no smell its acid,,, no smell its not a base again
drink it -------------ur dead its acid,,, ur alive and and loose motions its base
pour water-------- fast and vigourous rxn. its acid,, easy or no rxn. its base------------------------------------------------------------------ its over i dunno all properties