Hot and Cold Color Change Chemistry Demonstration

This is a fun color change chemistry demonstration, just right for Valentine's Day. Take a pink solution and watch it turn colorless upon heating. When the solution cools it becomes pink again. Here's what you do:

Prepare the Hot and Cold Valentine Solution

Add a few drops of phenolphthalein indicator and a drop of concentrated ammonia to 500 ml of water in a beaker, flask or large test tube.

Perform the Valentine's Day Demo

Present the pink solution. You can heat the liquid over a hot plate or, in the case of the test tube, in a burner flame. Heating the solution causes a shift in the equilibrium between the unionized ammonia and the ionized ammonium hydroxide. The change in pH makes the pink-colored indicator turn colorless. If you do not experience a color change, there is too much ammonia in the solution, so dilute it further with water and try again.

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