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Author: Subject: Would Thymolphthalein solution be the right choice here?
rosco
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[*] posted on 28-1-2005 at 13:37
Would Thymolphthalein solution be the right choice here?


Greetings chemichal geniuses,
I am hoping someone could offer some help with something i am working on.
My grandfather is an amteur magician that does shows for children & churches, etc. He has asked me to find something that he can use to present a clear liquid to the audience, and be able to turn it blue and then back to clear with other clear liquids..to fit in with his story or song&dance or whatever this act entails :).
After googling for quite a while, I have found that a 0.05% w/v solution with Isopropyl Alcohol will be clear when pH is below 8.8 and blue when above 10.5. so he could use basic solutions to turn it blue, and acidic solutions to clear it back up.
My questions are
1. Is this a reasonably safe material to handle in powder form? (Since 0.05g of Thymolphthalein pre-mixed in solution costs the same as 5g of pure reagent)
2. Would this be the best choice?
3.Would it cause any negative effects if the solution were to be stronger than 0.05% w/v? Or would the color just be more intense?

Thanks in advance for any help.
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mick
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[*] posted on 29-1-2005 at 09:58


Someone I know did some stuff for primary school children. The one was magic ink, phenolphthalein and lemon. If the stuff is all diluted first there was not any problem with insurance.
For the blue, starch might work, as in starch/iodide papers or iodine/thiosulphate titration.
mick

Just thought, the iodine / thiosulphate reaction is reversible but the starch reaction might not be
mick

[Edited on 29-1-2005 by mick]

[Edited on 29-1-2005 by mick]
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[*] posted on 29-1-2005 at 13:05


Thymolphthalein should work and I guess it's not much more toxic than phenolphthalein.
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