Question

Classify these substances as acidic, basic, or neutral:
Vinegar, baking soda, tomato juice, sugar

Answer 1

Vinegar is basically acetic acid- CH3COOH, because it has a hydrogen that it can donate you can guess whether it is an acid or base.
Baking soda contains sodium bicarbonate- NaHCO3, which can break up in an aqueous solution to form Na+ and HCO3- ions. The anions can accept H+ ions so from this you can determine whether it is an acid or base.
Sugar does not form any ions in solution- it just dissolves.
And tomato juice- if you think of the taste of it it may help. Generally acids are a little sour and bases are more bitter.