What type of indicator is methyl red?
Methyl red is a pH indicator; it turns pink/red at 4.4 pH & lower, yellow at 6.2 pH & higher, and orange in between. This 30 ml bottle is a 0.02 wt% aqueous solution.
Methyl red (2-(N,N-dimethyl-4-aminophenyl) azobenzenecarboxylic acid), also called C.I. Acid Red 2, is an indicator dye that turns red in acidic solutions. It is an azo dye, and is a dark red crystalline powder.
For the titration of a weak acid, however, the pH at the equivalence point is greater than 7.0, so an indicator such as phenolphthalein or thymol blue, with pKin > 7.0, should be used.
In such titrations (strong acid-weak base); methyl red is used as an indicator which changes the acidic solution to red in color which works in the range of pH from four to seven. Thus, the best choice for weak base-strong acid titration is methyl red.
Methyl red is an azo dye, or a synthetic dye, which is one of the common chemical indicators used in the laboratory to determine pH transitions within a specific range. It's most effective between pH 4.4 and pH 6.2. If the pH level is below 4.4, its colour is red, and if it's above 6.2, the colour turns yellow.
In the acid-base titration involving strong base and weak acid, methyl red can be used as an indicator.
If the pH indicator (methyl red) is added to an aliquot of the culture broth and the pH is below 4.4, a red color will appear (first picture, tube on the left). If the MR turns yellow, the pH is above 6.0 and the mixed acid fermentation pathway has not been utilized (first picture, tube on the right).
Methyl red. Methyl red is a very common indicator for titrations of strong acids with strong bases. It is a dark red violet crystalline powder. In contrast to Methyl orange, it is sparingly soluble in water, and a stock solution should contain 0.02 % of the indicator in a 60 % ethanol water mixture.
Thymolphthalein is used as an indicator for weak acid and strong base. The end point is color change to blue.
Any acid that dissociates 100% into ions is called a strong acid. If it does not dissociate 100%, it is a weak acid.
What are 3 examples of weak acids?
- Formic acid (chemical formula: HCOOH)
- Acetic acid (chemical formula: CH3COOH)
- Benzoic acid (chemical formula: C6H5COOH)
- Oxalic acid (chemical formula: C2H2O4)
- Hydrofluoric acid (chemical formula: HF)
- Nitrous acid (chemical formula: HNO2)
Common Weak Acids | Common Weak Bases | |
---|---|---|
Formic | HCOOH | ammonia |
Acetic | CH3COOH | trimethyl ammonia |
Trichloroacetic | CCl3COOH | pyridine |
Hydrofluoric | HF | ammonium hydroxide |

In contrast, methyl red begins to change from red to yellow around pH 5, which is near the midpoint of the acetic acid titration, not the equivalence point. Adding only about 25–30 mL of NaOH will therefore cause the methyl red indicator to change color, resulting in a huge error.
Methyl orange is not suitable for this titration because its pH range lies on the flat portion of the curve.
A suitable indicator for this strong acid - strong base titration would be bromothymol blue (pH range 6.2 - 7.6) or phenol red (pH range 6.8 - 8.4).
Tizard ( J . C'hem. Soc., 1910, 97, 2477) concluded that g L as an indicator methyl red is greatly superior to methyl orange, as the colour curves show. The end-point is very much sharper than with methyl orange.
methly red is red when it is an acid and yellow when it is a base..
The Methyl Red pH indicator indicates the change in pH caused by bacterial glucose fermentation. The pH indicator is red in color at acidic pH and yellow in alkaline pH. If the media turns from yellow to red color, it means the test is positive.
Enterics that subsequently metabolize pyruvic acid to other acids lower the pH of the medium to 4.2. At this pH, methyl red turns red. A red color represents a positive test. Enterics that subsequently metabolize pyruvic acid to neutral end-products lower the pH of the medium to only 6.0.
For the titration of a weak acid with a strong base, the pH is greater than 7. You want to choose an acid-base indicator that changes color in a range greater than 7. For our example, phenolphthalein would work really well because it changes in a range of 8 to 10.
Why indicator is weak acid or base?
Acid - Base indicators (also known as pH indicators) are substances which change colour with pH. They are usually weak acids or bases, which when dissolved in water dissociate slightly and form ions. Consider an indicator which is a weak acid, with the formula HIn.
Phenolphthalein is another commonly used indicator for titrations, and is another weak acid. In this case, the weak acid is colourless and its ion is bright pink. Adding extra hydrogen ions shifts the position of equilibrium to the left, and turns the indicator colourless.
If an acid is not listed here, it is a weak acid. It may be 1% ionized or 99% ionized, but it is still classified as a weak acid. The issue is similar with bases: a strong base is a base that is 100% ionized in solution. If it is less than 100% ionized in solution, it is a weak base.
Common Weak Acids | |
---|---|
formic acid | HCOOH |
hydrocyanic acid | HCN |
hydrofluoric acid | HF |
hydrogen sulfide | H2S |
- Formic Acid (HCOOH)
- Acetic Acid (CH3COOH)
- Benzoic Acid (C6H5COOH)
- Hydrofluoric Acid (HF)
- Phosphoric Acid (H3PO4)
- Sulfurous Acid (H2SO3)
- Carbonic Acid (H2CO3)
- Nitrous Acid (HNO2)
Key Takeaways
The strong acids are hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, hydrobromic acid, hydroiodic acid, perchloric acid, and chloric acid. The only weak acid formed by the reaction between hydrogen and a halogen is hydrofluoric acid (HF).
Key Takeaways. Strong acids and bases are 100% ionized in aqueous solution. Weak acids and bases are less than 100% ionized in aqueous solution. Salts of weak acids or bases can affect the acidity or basicity of their aqueous solutions.
A weak acid is an acid that is partially dissociated into its ions in an aqueous solution or water. In contrast, a strong acid fully dissociates into its ions in water. weak acids have a higher pH value than strong acids.
Acid | Conjugate Base |
---|---|
HCl (hydrochloric acid) (strongest) | Cl− (chloride ion) (weakest) |
H2SO4 (sulfuric acid) | HSO4− (hydrogen sulfate ion) |
HNO3 (nitric acid) | NO3− (nitrate ion) |
Weak Acids |
The key difference between methyl orange and phenolphthalein is that the color of methyl orange changes from red to yellow when changing from acidic to basic medium, whereas the color of phenolphthalein changes from colorless to pink when changing from acidic to basic medium.
Why methyl orange is not used for strong acid and strong base?
Methyl orange is an indicator with a pH range of 3.1-4.4. It is not a suitable indicator for the neutralization reaction between the weak acid oxalic acid (H2 C2 O4 ), and strong base sodium hydroxide (NaOH) because its pH range does not include the equivalence point pH (~8) for the reaction.
Is methyl orange a weak acid or base? Methyl Orange is a weak acid that breaks down into orange neutral molecules when it comes into contact with water. The equilibrium is to the left in acidic conditions, and the concentration of neutral molecules is too poor to see the orange colour.
However, as the pH changes from eight to 10, phenolphthalein goes from colorless to pink. Because the color of the indicator changes in the same range where we would find the equivalence point, phenolphthalein is a good choice as an acid-base indicator for this titration.
Acid - Base indicators (also known as pH indicators) are substances which change colour with pH. They are usually weak acids or bases, which when dissolved in water dissociate slightly and form ions. The acid and its conjugate base have different colours.
Methyl orange is a popular pH indicator that is used in the titration. The colour of the solution turns red when methyl orange is used as an indicator of acid. When methyl orange is mixed with a base, the result is yellow, or the colour changes to yellow. As a pH symbol, methyl orange is used.
Phenol red, also known as phenolsulfonphthalein, is a pH indicator dye that exhibits a gradual transition from yellow to red over a pH range of 6.2 to 8.2 (Figure 2). Above 8.2 the dye turns a bright fuchsia color.
The most common indicators in complexometric titrations are organic dyes which function by forming a colored complex with the metal ion being titrated. During the reaction, EDTA replaces the indicator to form a more stable complex with metal and when the reaction is completed the change for the color is observed.
Methyl red. Methyl red is a very common indicator for titrations of strong acids with strong bases. It is a dark red violet crystalline powder. In contrast to Methyl orange, it is sparingly soluble in water, and a stock solution should contain 0.02 % of the indicator in a 60 % ethanol water mixture.
Methyl red (pH range: 4.4–6.2) is an azo compound, the structure of which differs from methyl orange (Orange 3) one by the substitution of sulphonic acid function by carboxylic acid function (Fig. 3.19).
The dissociation of these indicators can tell their nature. Therefore, it is a weak acid. Therefore, it is a weak base. Hence, phenolphthalein and methyl orange are themselves weak acids and weak base respectively.
What is the difference between methyl red and methyl orange?
The difference is greater in solutions of neutral salts, such as chloride and sodium sulphate, in which case the sensitiveness of methyl red is not much aflected, whereas that of methyl orange, as I pointed out in 1883, is considerably lessened.
When methyl red is added, if acidic end products are present, the methyl red will stay red. NOTE: Methyl red differs from Phenol red (which is used in the fermentation test and the MSA plates) in that it is yellow at pH 6.2 and above and red at pH 4.4 and below. Phenol red turns yellow below a pH of 6.8.
Most commonly, phenol red is an indicator dye, used as an acid pH indicator with a transition point of 7.5 (acid side to yellow / alkaline side to red) Biologists use phenol red in cell cultures as a pH indicator. Phenol red has been used in the PSP test for kidney functions.
Phenol red (PR) is the standard pH indicator in various cell and tissue culture media, as it provides a quick check for the health of the culture. PR has also been used in multiple protocols to detect cellular hydrogen peroxide as well as peroxidase activity from human peroxidase enzymes.
EDTA called as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid is a complexometric indicator consisting of 2 amino groups and four carboxyl groups called as Lewis bases. Edta is a hexadentate ligand because of its competence to denote six pair of lonely electrons due to the formation of covalent bonds.
EDTA is short for ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. A blue dye called Eriochrome Black T (ErioT) is used as the indicator. This blue dye also forms a complex with the calcium and magnesium ions, changing colour from blue to pink in the process.
In the case of EDTA titrations, the indicators are organic colorants that form coloured chelates with metal ions. The most commonly-used indicator is eriochrome black T. This is a triprotic acid.