Does an acid turn red litmus paper blue?
* red litmus turns blue in base * blue litmus turns red in acid The key word is turns. If red litmus is put in a solution and remains red it does not mean the solution is acidic. It may be acidic but it also could be neutral. However, it definately is not basic. The following pictures represent some litmus tests. In each case the litmus papaer was put in a sample tube containing the gas. A. Moist red litmus placed in the vapor of ammonia, NH3 B. Moist red litmus placed in the vapors of chlorine, Cl2 C. Moist red litmus in nitrogen, N2, but touching NaOH solution which wet the sides. D. Moist red litmus placed in nitrogen, N2 A B C D … NOTE: * Gasses react more rapidly with moist rather than dry litmus. Why? * Gasses change the color of litmus paper over its entire exposed surface, not just at the edges because they make contact over the entire surface. * The neutral gasses nitrogen and oxygen do not affect the color of either red or blue litmus. (Otherwise how could you keep litmus p
