A skienzy question...

[capri0mni]

Okay. I get that when I add a teaspoon of the base sodium bicarbonate to a mixture of pomegranite juice (which has the ascorbic acid), water and a little bit of sugar, the molecules start trading atoms like partners in a square dance coreographed by Salvidore Dali. And what we end up with is salt, carbon dioxide bubbles and water. I can even understand why adding a dash or two of lemon juice will make the potion sweeter, because lemon juice is very high in sugar, actually (that's why its so sticky on your fingers), and that sodium bicarbonate is still in there, knocking out the acid that makes us pucker...

But why does the pomegranite juice turn a really dark blue-purple? I knew from high school physics class that bases turned pink litmus paper blue, but I always thought that was because of the specific chemical on that paper. Is redness, itself, an attribute of acids -- something to do with the way light bounces off all those hydrogen atoms?

Oh, and here's my guestimate of the recipe for this potion (I just kinda eyeballed everything)

1/2 cup pomegranite juice
1 1/4 cups water
1 (scant) TBS sugar

[stir until sugar is disolved]

~1 tspn Baking Soda.
2 (?) TBS lemon juice [stir again]

Pour into a bottle, skrew cap tightly, and refrigerate.

I was really impressed with how good this tasted... not as fizzy as a freshly opened bottle of Pepsi, mind, but enough to feel something on your tongue. And with the acid cut back a little, the lemon/pom combination tasted even fruitier... or something. ... even if it looked a wierd, dangerous, color...

Comments

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, homemade pop.

I have no idea why it would turn funny colours. o_O Turning the litmus paper blue is a reaction between the base and the specific agent on the paper. It's chosen for its obvious colour change. But that's not to say that a naturally occurring substance couldn't act similarly.

I do know that if you expose garlic to acid, as in cooking something that has garlic and lemon, or sometimes in a jar of pickles, the garlic turns a rather pretty and non-foodlike shade of teal.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, homemade pop.

Yeah. I'm almost tempted to buy some liter-sized bottles of water, so I could mix up a few larger batches at once, to have on hand in the fridge. If I added some ginger juice (I know a source for it, bottled), I could make my own purple Shirley Temples... ;-)

... erm, alien Shirleys?

[trinalin.livejournal.com]

Litmus is not the only indicator in the world. Litmus is a blue colored chemical that turns a pink/red color when it becomes acidic. Bromthymol blue is a blue chemical that turns yellow when it becomes acidic. Phenolphthalein is a colorless solution that turns fucsia when it becomes basic. All of these are indicators. Not all of them are red when acidic. The colorant in pomegranate juice must be another indicator which happens to become darker purple when more basic. (An indicator is basically any acid or base that changes color when it changes pH.) Red cabbage juice is another fun natural indicator. I forget what its color change is. :-)

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

I think I've seen acid-to-basic-to-acid-again color change experiments on that kids' show Zoom, using things you can find in your kitchen. IIRC correctly, red cabbage water turned a rather pretty violet color, and tomato juice also turned purplish.

So did the raspberrry juice, when I went to all the trouble pureeing raspberries in water and sugar and filtering them to get out the seeds, for other variations of this homemade pop (but this pomegranit/lemon blend is by the best, so far, and didn't take so much work). Of course, as raspberries, cabbage, tomatos and pomegranites are all plants, they probably all get their redness from the same compound, Mother Nature being as efficient as she is with evolution. I know carotine is what makes plants orange, but I forget the name for red...

I have noticed, on occasion, the advice that to eat a balanced diet, you should not only eat lots of fruits and vegies, but eat a wide varieties of colors, because each color compound comes bundled with different nutrients...

Hey, don't you think this soda pop (and it really is "soda" pop) experiment would make a fun variation on the old vinegar/baking soda "volcano"? You could combine it with a taste test...

Or an activity for a Harry Potter themed party -- give each guest their own caldron/flask, "magical" ingredients, and have them mix up their own soda to have with the cake... assuming none of them are on a low sodium diet...

[trinalin.livejournal.com]

Or an activity for a Harry Potter themed party -- give each guest their own caldron/flask, "magical" ingredients, and have them mix up their own soda to have with the cake... assuming none of them are on a low sodium diet...

Heh - I like that idea. There used to be a series of toys you could get where you'd make Mad Scientist-style food items to eat. I got one of the fizzing slime ones and it tasted good. :-)

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

If it was "Slime," I bet it was mostly corn syrup, flavoring, and citric acid... to which you add baking soda... what's not to taste good? ;-)