Why Test Gases With Litmus Paper?
Litmus has literally been used for centuries for testing substances of different kinds. It is still used today in countless schools and water-testing facilities. You may have even used litmus paper to test the water of your pool when adding chemicals. Testing gases with litmus paper is sometimes tricky, though. So why do it? To understand, you will need to know more about what litmus paper and gases are, as well as the testing process and potential.
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History
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Litmus is believed to be used for the first time in about 1300 A.D. by a Spanish alchemist named Arnaldus de Villa Nova. Litmus paper is believed to have been invented in the 1800s by a man named J.L. Gay-Lussac, a Frenchman and a chemist. The Law of Combining Volumes is what Lussac is best known for as a chemist.
Litmus
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Litmus is a type of paper made from wood cellulose, adjunct compounds and lichens from plants. The lichens are what give litmus paper the ability to change colors upon interaction with different materials. Litmus paper is most commonly used to test water and other liquids for acidity on a scale from 0 to 14. It is also used to determine if alkalines are present in a substance. Litmus paper comes in two colors, red and blue. Testing a red paper with a base makes it turn blue, and testing a blue paper with an acid turns it red.
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Gases
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A gas is a substance that is neither in liquid nor solid form. The molecules of a gas are widely spread and in no particular order. Examples of gases include hydrogen, oxygen and helium. Gases are difficult to test because they are not easily contained and are difficult to precisely measure in its natural form. This is why testing a gas with litmus paper can be so beneficial--its ease and accuracy.
Process
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When testing a gas with litmus paper, it is obviously not going to be as easy as waving a piece of litmus paper around in a sample of a gas. However, the color-changing abilities of litmus paper make it ideal for testing for alkalines and acidity, just like with liquid materials. The key to testing gases with litmus, however, is to moisten the litmus paper beforehand. This gives the gas something to adhere to and dissolve into, effectively getting results. The trick to this is to have non-acidic or alkaline water to moisten the paper with. It will only work on water-soluble gases.
Potential
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Though litmus paper cannot give an exact reading of acidity or alkaline level of a gas, it will probably be used for many more years as a basic teaching tool. It is relatively cheap and easy for manufacturers to make. Certain types of lichens used in making litmus paper, however, are becoming endangered and extinct due to using them so much for this paper. In the future, litmus paper may not be made from these materials, but rather a synthetic material made in a laboratory for this specific purpose.
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