Acids and Bases Are All Around

Summary
An introduction to common acids and bases, the pH scale, and measurement of pH.

Objectives
• Students will be able to name several common acids and bases.

• Students will become familiar with the acidic nature of the human stomach.

• Students will understand the pH scale as it corresponds to acidic and basic solutions.

• Students will be introduced to the ions involved in determining if a substance is an acid or a base.

• Students will learn the role of pH indicators in measuring pH.

Suggested Grades
4th Grade
5th Grade
6th Grade

Excerpt
You may not know it, but you come in contact with acids and bases when cooking, cleaning, and eating. Have you ever used baking soda in the kitchen? Baking soda is a base. Maybe you have eaten salad dressing with vinegar in it ? vinegar is a weak form of acetic acid. Citrus fruits that you eat contain citric acid. If you drink a carbonated soda, carbonic acid is created when the carbon dioxide in the soda combines with water in your body. If you have ever combined vinegar with baking soda, you have seen that a chemical reaction occurs. The fizzing and foaming that results is due to the interaction between the acid (vinegar) and the base (baking soda).

You also have acids and bases in your body. One of the best examples is in your stomach. Human stomachs contain hydrochloric acid that is used to digest food.

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