MAgic TRIck with aCids and baSes

MAGIC TRICK with ACIDS and BASES

WATER to WINE to WATER

Miraculously, when a glass of water can be turned into wine and back into the water!!

Maybe you've seen on television, a magician who poured a glass of water and it turns into a glass of red wine (see the picture above).

What you see is NOT something MAGICAL, but it is SCIENCE. Changing water into wine and back again into the water is something that can be explained by science.

Science related to this magic is about acid, alkaline a solution.

So,

How to turn Water into Wine and back again into water ?

Firstly, we prepare the tools and material :

1. Glass of water

2. Medicine dropper (pipette)

3. 1 Molar Sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH = alkalis)

4. Phenolphthalein (solution indicator)

5. 2 empty glasses

6. 3 Molar Hydrochloric acid (HCl = Acid)

WARNING :

Use extreme caution when handling acid because Hydrochloric acid is strong acid which will damage to human tissue.

Second, procedural to experiment :

Step 1 Fill a glass and add sodium hydroxide

Fill a glass with 4 ounces of water and use a medicine dropper to add two drops of sodium hydroxide solution. (the first glass).

Step 2 Place phenolphthalein in glass

Place three drops of phenolphthalein solution into one of the empty glasses. (second glass).

Tip : When dropping the phenolphthalein into the glass, hide the drops by swirling it around the glass to coat the inside.

Step 3 Place acid into glass

Place three drops of hydrochloric acid into the other empty glass. Be sure to keep track of which glass is which. (third glass).

Tip : Hide the Hydrochloric acid by swirling it around the glass.

Step 4 Pour water into phenolphthalein glass

Pour the mixture of water and sodium hydroxide solution into phenolphthalein solution (second glass). So that will produce red solution or wine solution. WHY IT HAPPENED??????

Step 5 Pour "wine" into acid glass

Pour the red water, or “wine,” into the glass with the hydrochloric acid to neutralize the phenolphthalein and return it to its clear state. So that will produce colorless solution like water. WHY IT HAPPENED????

Before I explain about it, CHECK IT OUT this video :

 

EXPLANATION :

The First Glass :

Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) has pH 14, so that included strong base. Sodium hydroxide solution classified in alkalis because soluble in water and it colorless like water. So, the mixture of water and sodium hydroxide is alkaline (bersifat basa).

Second Glass :

Phenolphthalein is colorless. So, second glass visible empty.

Phenolphthalein is an organic compound often used as an pH indicator.  Phenolphthalein turns red in pH greater than 8.0 and colorless in acidic solutions and the neutral solution (for more details, read my article about acids, bases, and salts). Phenolphthalein has chemical formula C₂₀H₁₄O₄.

Third Glass :

Hydrochloric acid is colorless. So, third glass visible empty.

  

Why the solution can be colored red like wine ?

The first glass is base solution and second glass is solution indicator which contains the phenolphthalein. As solution indicator, phenolphthalein will be changing color become red when mix with base solution.

Why the wine solution can return to the water ?

the wine solution is not chemically bound so that base solution and phenolphthalein is only physically combined. So, when base solution (NaOH) mixing with hydrochloric acid (HCl) occurs neutralization reaction which produce salt (NaCl) and water === salt solution. And when the salt solution or the neutral solution mixing with phenolphthalein then make salt solution still not change color or colorless.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.magic.org/store/images/water_to_wine_to_water.jpg

http://www.howcast.com/videos/308395-How-To-Turn-Water-Into-Wine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keRD4KH6NQs