What is litmus paper?
Sunflower is a water-soluble mixture of various dyes extracted from lichens. It is absorbed on filter paper to make one of the types of pH indicator, which is used to determine the acidity of the sample.
Litmus paper is used to perform the litmus test which determines if the sample/substance is acidic or basic. It comes in two types of strips, red and blue, and works the same way as pH paper. Red litmus paper turns blue if the sample contains an alkali, while in acids blue litmus paper turns red. In neutral, the two litmus papers do not change color if the sample is neutral.
What is a universal indicator?
A universal indicator is a mixture of dyes that starts out green but changes color when added to a solution. The changing color not only specifies that the substance is acidic or basic, but can also indicate its position on the pH scale from 0 to 14. Colors ranging from yellow to red indicate an acidic solution, blue to purple indicate a solution acid alkaline and green. indicates a neutral solution.
Difference between litmus paper and universal indicator:
- The main difference between litmus paper and universal indicator is that universal indicators can change a range of different colors which makes it useful for determining the strength of an acid or base whereas litmus paper litmus only indicates whether the substance is strong is an acid or alkali; it does not tell us about the strength of the acid or the base.
- Litmus paper is used in tests where only the acidic or basic nature of the substance is involved, while universal indicator is used in tests to know the pH of a substance.
