Acids, bases and salts are three main categories of chemical compounds. These have certain definite properties which distinguish one class from the other.
The acids are sour in taste while bases are bitter in taste. Tasting a substance is not a good way of finding out if it is an acid or a base! Acids and bases can be better distinguished with the help of indicators. Indicators are substances that undergo a change of colour with a change of acidic, neutral or basic medium. Many of these indicators are derived from natural substances such as extracts from flower petals and barrier. Litmus, a purple dye is extracted from the lichen plant. Some indicators are prepared artificially. For example, methyl orange and phenolphthalein. Given below is a table of indicators and their colour change in acidic and basic medium.
| Indicator | Colour in Acid | Colour in Alkali |
| Litmus | Red | Blue |
| Methyl | Pinkish red | Yellow |
| Phenolphthalein | Colourless | Pink |
(i) Give two examples each of natural and artificial indicators.
(ii) An aqueous solution turns red litmus solution blue. Excess addition of which solution would reverse the change-ammonium hydroxide solution or hydrochloric acid?
(iii) What will be the change in colour when a few drops of phenolphthalein is added to a solution having pH 8.5.
or
(iv) What is universal indicator?
Answer(i) Natural Indicators : Turmeric and red cabbage, Artificial Indicators : Methyl red and methyl orange
(ii) Hydrochloric acid because adding excess acid to the base would turn blue litmus solution red.
(iii) It changes into pink.
(iv) Universal indicator is a mixture of dyes that changes colour gradually over a range of $pH$ and is used in testing for acids and alkalis.