F. U. N with Science F.U.N With Science_1_FINAL_UPDATE v3 | Page 5

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the base, just like what happened with Serenity’s juice after she had thrown
it in the sink.
The teacher added about 25mL of base to a conical flask and added a
few drops of blackcurrant juice to it, before adding acid to the flask. The
students were surprised to see the green colour of the liquid return to pur-
ple. Their teacher then tested the liquid solution with pH paper twice: firstly,
after the solution had first returned to purple, and secondly, after adding
some more acid. The students found that when the solution first turned pur-
ple, the pH was 7 and that it dropped below 7 when more acid was added.
An avoidable accident had been turned into a valuable lesson.
The moral of the story is that you shouldn’t drink juice in a chemical lab-
oratory, but sometimes good things happen when you do (it’s still wrong
though, don’t do it).
by Nigel Griffith