Acids, Bases and Salts

1. What do you mean by acidic nature of a substance. Give two examples of natural
acids.

Ans. Curd, lemon juice, orange juice and vinegar taste sour. These substances taste
sour because they contain acids. The chemical nature of such substances is acidic.

The acids in these substances are natural acids. For example:

2. What is the origin of the word acid?

Ans. The word acid comes from the Latin word acere which means sour.

3. Without using any indicator how can we say that baking soda is basic in nature?
What is its chemical name?

Ans. Baking soda is bitter in taste. If its solution is rubbed between fingers, it feels
soapy. Substances like these which are bitter in taste and feel soapy on touching are
known as bases. The nature of such substances is said to be basic.
Baking soda -- Sodium hydrogen carbonate. NaHCO 3

4. Define indicators. What is the importance of indicators? Name any two naturally
occurring indicators.

Ans. Special type of substances are used to test whether a substance is acidic or basic.
These substances are known as indicators.
The indicators change their colour when added to a solution containing an acidic or a
basic substance.
Turmeric and litmus are examples of naturally occurring indicators.

5. Learn Did you Know (pg. 50).

6. Write a short note on Litmus.

Ans. The most commonly used natural indicator is litmus. It is extracted from lichens. It
has a mauve (purple) colour in distilled water. When added to an acidic solution, it turns
red and when added to a basic solution, it turns blue. It is available in the form of a
solution, or in the form of strips of paper, known as litmus paper. Generally, it is
available as red and blue litmus paper.

7. How can we prepare lime water?

Ans. To prepare limewater, dissolve some lime (chuna) in water in a bottle. Stir the
solution and keep it for some time. Pour a little from the top. This is lime water.

8. Why a turmeric stain on white shirt is turned to red when it is washed with soap.

Ans. A turmeric stain on white shirt is turned to red when it is washed with soap
because the soap solution is basic.
9. How Can we prepare china rose indicator? What is the change in colour in china rose
solution when added to acidic and basic solution?

Ans. To prepare China rose indicator we need to collect some china rose (Gudhal ) petals
and place them in a beaker. Add some warm water. Keep the mixture for some time till
water becomes coloured. Use the coloured water as an indicator.
China rose indicator turns acidic solutions to dark pink (magenta) and basic solutions to
green.

10. Coffee is brown and bitter in taste. It is a base or an acidic substance.

Ans. Though coffee is bitter in taste it is acidic in nature as it contains acids.

11. Dry litmus paper does not show any change in colour when add to baking soda
powder. Why?
The litmus paper must absorb the solution. No colour change is observed if the solution is dry.
Ans. The solid baking soda does not change colour of dry litmus paper. In a solution of
baking soda litmus paper changes colour.

12. Why should we handle laboratory acids and bases with great care?

Ans. Great care should be taken while handling laboratory acids and bases because
these are corrosive in nature, irritating and harmful to skin.

13. Write an activity to show neutralization reaction using phenolphthalein indicator.

Aim: To show neutralization reaction using phenolphthalein indicator.

Materials required: A test tube, dilute hydrochloric acid, phenolphthalein solution,

Method:

➢ We will fill one fourth of the test tube with dilute hydrochloric acid and add 2–3
drops of the phenolphthalein solution(indicator) to the acid and shake the test
tube gently. We note down the colour of the solution.
➢ To the acidic solution we add a drop of sodium hydroxide solution by a dropper
and stir the tube gently. We will continue adding the sodium hydroxide solution
drop by drop while stirring till the pink colour just appears.
➢ We then add one more drop of dilute hydrochloric acid and observe. The solution
again becomes colourless. To this we add one drop of sodium hydroxide solution.
The solution again becomes pink in colour.

Observation: We observe that when the solution is basic, phenolphthalein gives a pink
colour. On the other hand, when the solution is acidic, it remains colourless. When
an acid solution and a base solution are mixed in suitable amounts, both the acidic
nature of the acid and the basic nature of the base are destroyed. The resulting solution
is neither acidic nor basic. And the indicator does not show any change in colour.

Conclusion: From the above observation we can conclude that when an acidic solution
is mixed with a basic solution, both the solutions neutralise the effect of each other.
14. What is a salt?

Ans. In neutralisation reaction a new substance is formed. This is called salt. Salt may
be acidic, basic, or neutral in nature.

15. If dilute sulphuric acid is added to lime water the reaction mixture becomes hot or
cool? Give reason for your answer.

Ans. When dilute sulphuric acid is added to lime water both the solutions neutralise the
effect of each other. In neutralisation reaction, heat is always produced, or evolved. The
evolved heat raises the temperature of the reaction mixture. So, the reaction mixture
becomes hot.

16. Write a short note on Soil treatment.

Ans. Excessive use of chemical fertilisers makes the soil acidic. Plants do not grow well
when the soil is either too acidic or too basic. When the soil is too acidic, it is treated
with bases like quick lime (calcium oxide) or slaked lime (calcium hydroxide). If the soil
is basic, organic matter is added to it. Organic matter releases acids which neutralises
the basic nature of the soil.

17. Name the base present in the following:

Ans. (a) Calamine solution: Zinc carbonate. ZnCO 3