Experiment with Ammonia

I recently subscribed to a  website called the Happy Scientist.  The Happy Scientist, Robert Krampf, has conducted dozens of experiments and put them on video. 

One that he recommended was the following:  buy or pick some flowers.  Ok, we bought some flowers since we're in the middle of winter. 

And here are some of the flowers.  Beautiful, aren't they?

Next, pour some ammonia into the bottom of a glass jar.  Suspend the flowers over the ammonia.  Cover with a plate.

Ammonia is a strong base (the opposite of an acid.)  Bases accept hydrogen ions.  Another way of saying that is that bases donate electron pairs in a chemical reaction.  The flowers we used, like many plants, are sensitive to the presence of acids and bases.  The ammonia fumes cause the petals to change color and the petals are therefore acid/base indicators.

So, did it work?

Well, yes, after 20 to 30 minutes exposure (I wasn't keeping close track), the flowers looked like this.

The orange petals didn't change much, but the others altered substantially.

So the experiment was a success. 

But the biggest thing I learned (though I vaguely knew it) is that I HATE the smell of ammonia. I don't think we'll be doing this particular experiment again any time soon!