Page Two


We decided to measure the pH of Pringles' salt & vinegar chips. pH is a measurement of how acidic or basic a substance is, and is measured on a scale of  0 to 14, where values of 0 - 1 denote strong acids, and 13 - 14 denote strong bases. A pH of 7 is neutral.

The most common appication of this is when you have excess acid in your stomach, causing 'heartburn'. (It really has nothing to do with your heart ... it's just your stomach acid eating away at your stomach lining). This acid is used to break down food, but too much of it can cause problems.
So you take a basic substance, some form of stomach pills like 'Tums', which dissolve in your stomach and combine with some of the acid (making it pH 7 neutral), thus lowering the overall acid content of your stomach.


The paper strip in the container shown at the right will measure the pH of a liquid by changing colour. The colour it becomes will indicate the pH, according to the scale on the lid. This is called a universal indicator.

Strong acids like battery acid (or stomach acid) will turn the paper strips dark orange or red, indicating a very low pH, perhaps 0, 1, or 2. These substances are dangerous, as they easily dissolve things ... like skin!

Alternately, very basic substances, like Drano (drain cleaner) or ammonia, will turn the paper strips dark green or blue, indicating a pH of perhaps 12, 13, or 14. These substances are dangerous too, burning the skin in a manner very similar to acids.

Already having been surprised once by the burns resulting from eating too many Pringles, we decided not to mess with these dangerous chemicals ... not even stomach acid (supposing, of course, that we could find someone to bring up some, by eating some three-week old yogurt ... O.K., let's not go there!)


Here's what we decided to do. In order to test the effectiveness of the pH-measuring strips, we collected a variety of household products that we surmised might be acidic or basic. We included some more Pringles too.

A small amount of each liquid was put on a plate, and the strips were immersed for one minute. No attempt was made to match concentrations or volumes. In the case of the hair conditioning creme, we actually mixed it with some water to simulate its use in the shower.


To test the Pringles, we crushed about ten chips in a small amount of water ... just enough to make the mixture liquid, and simulate the saliva in your mouth. Oh, and we also tested saliva. (Is this fun, or what?!)
First we tested some distilled water as a control, which should be neutral, and which should have a pH of somewhere around 7.

What we discovered was that the colours don't quite match the scale on the lid of the test-strip container; what should have been a yellowish-green colour at the end of the strip was in fact only a very pale green, with far more yellow than the scale indicated. Matching colours is not very precise to begin with; this tells us that the strips aren't very accurate either. But we hoped they would at least be able to show differing pH levels for the various substances, particularly the Pringles.


Precision is how finely you can measure something. A ruler with centimetre markings will allow you to measure a pencil to be about 16 cm ... not very precise. If however you use a ruler with millimetre markings (tenths of a centimetre), you can measure the length of the pencil to be 15.7 cm. The second measurement is more precise.

Accuracy describes how close a measurement is to the real answer. If we measure PI and get 3.5714, we did it with a high degree of precision, but unfortunately weren't very accurate, because PI is actually about 3.1416


The Tests


Test #1
White vinegar

 
Test #1
Pepto Bismol


For the Pepto Bismol, as well as some of the other substances, we had to wash
the strip after immersing it, in order to see the true colour it had changed to.
The colour of the tip of the strip isn't always easy to distinguish in these photos.



Test #3
Bleach

 
Test #4
Baking Soda


We were just guessing here. The colour matching is not precise at all.



Test #5
Saliva

 
Test #6
Hair conditioner



Test #7
Malt vinegar

 
Test #8
Instant coffee


Here are the results in table form:

Acidic Substances
white vinegar
malt vinegar
instant coffee
bleach
saliva

Neutral Substances
hair conditioner
distilled water

pH
5
5
5.5
6.5
6.5-7


7
7
  Basic Substances
Pepto Bismol
baking soda


* As a stomach medicine, this should have been more basic. The pink colour and subsequent rinsing probably disguised the colour change

pH
7-7.5*
8


As you can see, the measurements were not at all precise, and not accurate either. Vinegar, for example, actually has a pH value a lot closer to 2-3, rather than 5. However, we were able to distinguish between acids and bases, and there was some diffence in the pH levels of the various acidic substances.

O.K., now for the Pringles. When we did that test, we realized we were a little hungry, so we took a short break. You can discover what we found out on the next page >>>


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