In our everyday life, we will often find or use chemical compounds. Chemical compounds can be divided into 2 based on its pH level. One of them is acids and the other one is bases.
Acids characteristics:
- It can conduct electrical current
- It has an acidic taste
- It has a pH level of less than 7
- It transforms blue litmus paper into red
- It keeps red litmus paper, red
- It reacts with metals to form hydrogen
Bases characteristics:
- It can conduct electrical current
- It has a bitter taste
- It has a pH level of more than 7
- It transforms red litmus paper into blue
- It keeps blue litmus paper, blue
- Base has a characteristic to neutralize acid
Examples of Acids and Bases in Everyday Life
When we consume an orange fruit, we will find citric acid along with ascorbic acid. When we consume cheese, will find lactic acid. Even when our car broke down, it can be caused by sulfuric acid inside the accumulator of our car’s engine. There are many more examples of acids and bases in everyday life that we will discuss even further.
1. Cyanide acid
Cyanide acid (HCN) is a chemical compound that we can find in yam. Yam is a kind of tuber plants that is usually made into chips. Of course, when the yam is being processed, the cyanide acid inside it will be eliminated so that it will be safe to consume. You may also read: Types of Cyanide
2. Acetic acid
Acetic acid (CH3COOH) is a kind of chemical compound that is used as food flavoring or acid flavorers on foods so we usually found this weak acid in a food stall or food court. Acetic acid also can be useful for our health to prevent osteoporosis because acetic acid helps the bone to absorb calcium even better. But bear in mind, that consuming excessive amount of acetic acid can bring more harms that benefit. You may also read: The Differences Between Acid and Base with Example
3. Carbonic acid
When the sun shines very hot with a very high temperature, surely we will find something refreshing to relive heat. We will drink carbonated drinks for example. Inside a carbonated drinks that we consume, there is carbonic acid which gives a refreshing sensation.
Not only that, along the month of September to December almost every region in Indonesia will be flooded with rain for every day and it even causes flood. The rainfall that we felt also contain carbonic acid (H2CO3). You may also read: Uses of Acetic Acid in Our Daily Life
4. Citric acid
Orange fruit which is known to contain vitamin C (ascorbic acid), also contained citric acid that brings a lot of functions and benefits. You may also read: Differences between Acid, Base and Salt
Citric acid can be used to remove stains and brighten clothes like contained on the sitrun. Citric acid can also be used in the making of skin care products like using it to make bath bomb by mixing it with sodium bicarbonate.
5. Sulfuric acid
Let’s check more examples of acids and bases in everyday life. Sulfuric acid is categorized as a strong acid that has a very corrosive trait. One drop of sulfuric acid is able to leave a hollow mark in our skin. We can find this acid easily although not in its pure form, that is vehicle accumulator.
Vehicle accumulators can be differentiated into two types, they are the dry accumulator and wet accumulator. In a wet accumulator, the accumulator cell is soaked in an accumulator solution. On the other hand, in a dry accumulator, the accumulator cell is soaked in an accumulator gel.
6. Sodium hydroxide
Every day, we surely clean ourselves by taking a bath. But, water is barely enough to clean our body. Therefore, we need soap in order to keep our body clean, stay out of bacteria, and smell good. Soap that we used every day contains sodium hydroxide as the main ingredients. Sodium hydroxide can also be found in other cleansing products, like floor cleaning agents, detergents, etc. You may also read: Uses of Sodium Bicarbonate in Daily Life
7. Magnesium hydroxide
Magnesium hydroxide is a compound that is generally used to neutralize gastric acid or antacids. Ulcer is caused by a high level of gastric acid because of stress, food that’s not properly chewed, eating too fast, etc.
When the gastric acid touches the mucous nerve in the digestion, that nerve will send a pain signal to our brain, and from that thing we can conclude that our gastric acid level is high. The symptoms include asphyxiate, diarrhea, etc.
8. Lactic acid
It’s almost certain that every one of us loves pizza, an Italian dish. With tomato sauce spread, meat sprinkles, and cheese melt, pizza sure will arouse our appetite. Cheese that complements the pizza contains Lactic acid. That lactic acid is obtained from Lactobacillus bulgaricus that produces lactic acid used to preserve milk.
Lactobacillus bulgaricus also degrades lactose so that it is safe to consume by people who are milk allergic. Besides milk, our own body also produce lactic acid. This is the cause of our exhaustion during exercise or doing heavy work. When our body lack of oxygen to support energy that is needed, our muscle cells will produce lactic acid.
9. Formic acid
Bees are insects that can be considered brings a lot of benefits not only for us, humans, but also the environment. Bees help the pollination process of plant. Bees also produce delicious honey that has a lot of nutrition which obviously healthy. Honey can also be used as a medicine.
Not only honey, even bee stings contain formic acids which often found as a therapy. Bee sting therapy is believed to cure different kind of disease like joint pain, muscle ache, uric acid, cholesterol, etc.
10. Benzoic acid
When we see ingredients listed in a snack packaging, we often see that it contains benzoic acid inside it because benzoic acid is able to preserver food and keeping snack to stay crunchy when consumed by the consumers. Aside from snacks, benzoic acids can also be found in a cosmetic, dye, etc.
Whether it’s an organic or a non-organic chemical compound, every acids and bases exist because of certain purpose. Every acids and bases have their own unique trait along with their benefits and drawbacks. Meanwhile, that’s all the examples of acids and bases in everyday life.