Neutralisation

LO:
• Observe what happens when an acid is added to an alkali.

• Use indicators to monitor neutralisation reactions.

 Adding an acid to an alkali

What do you think will happen to the

colour of the indicator if we slowly
add an acid to the alkali.

Write a prediction in your book.

 Method
1. Put 2 ml of ammonia in your conical flask.
2. Add a few drops of universal indicator.
3. Put 10 ml of ethanoic acid in a beaker.
4. Use a pipette to add 5 drops of acid to the
conical flask.
5. Swirl the liquid in the conical flask.
6. Note the change of colour and pH number in
your results table.
7. Repeat steps 4 – 6.
Ammonia Ethanoic Acid Universal Indicator

Pipette
Conical Flask Beaker
 The pH scale

stronger acid stronger alkali

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Strong Weak Weak Strong
acid acid neutral alkali alkali
 Results
The pH of the liquid in the test tube went down.

When we add an acid to an alkali the pH changes.

We call this change a chemical reaction.

Acid + Alkali  Neutral

 Neutralisation
When the pH in our test tubes reaches 7, we say
NEUTRALISATION has happened.

Neutralisation can be very useful in some

situations…