How To Turn Water into Wine or Blood
This popular chemistry demonstration is often called turning water into wine or water into blood. It's really asimple example of a pH indicator. Phenolphthalein is added to water, which is then poured into a second glass containing a base. If the pH of the resulting solution is right, you can make the water turn from clear to red to clear again, as long as you like. Here's How: Sprinkle sodium carbonate to coat the bottom of a drinking glass. Fill a second glass halfway full of water. Add ~10 drops phenolphthalein indicator solution to the water. The glasses can be prepared in advance. To change water into wine or blood, pour the water with indicator into the glass that contains the sodium carbonate. Stir the contents to mix the sodium carbonate, and the water will change from clear to red. If you like, you can use a straw to blow air into the red liquid to change it back to clear. The principle is the same as for thedisappearing ink formula. Phenolphthal...