Acids and Bases

An acid: lemon

        Okay, so I have no idea what these words mean, so it looks like I'll be learning something as well as you! So... acids and bases. Good stuff, weird stuff, I-have-no idea-what-those-words-mean stuff, whichever you prefer.Personally, I'd go with the last one, but no matter. That can be changed, if you pay attention.

A base: soap

        Okay, so you know how lemon juice and vinegar taste sour? Well, for thousands of years, no one knew why. But now we know these are acids. The word acid comes from the latin word 'acere', which means 'sour'. In the seventeenth century, the Irish writer and amateur chemist Robert Boyle first labeled substances as either acids or bases. Here, mabe this will help:

• Acids-taste sour, are corrosive to metals, change litmus red, and become less acidic when mixed with bases.
• Bases- feel slippery, change litmus blue, and become less basic when mixed with acids.

        Okay, so maybe you're wondering what litmus is. Well, so am I, for that matter. So let me just look it up... ah, yes, here it is. Litmus is a dye extracted from lichens. Doesn't really help. So now I have to look lichens up. Great.... Perfect. It doesn't give a reasonable explination. This is what they gave me:
   "Lichens are made up of two, and some times three, different organisms from three different Kingdoms, which form a symbiotic relationship with each other for their mutual survival."
        Doesn't really make sense to me, but maybe it made sense to you. Right now, though, I have to tell you about bases. 'Kay, here we go.... That's interesting. They gave me a different definition. Here, I'll put it on, just in case you didn't get the first definition. Acids:

• react with zinc, magnesium, or aluminum and form hydrogen (H_2(g))
• react with compounds containing CO₃^2- and form carbon dioxide and water
• turn litmus red
• taste sour

Bases:

• feel soapy or slippery
• turn litmus blue
• they react with most cations to precipitate hydroxides
• taste bitter

      

        So,if you'd like to know some common acids and bases here they are:

Acids:

• lemon juice
• vinegar
• stomach acid
• battery acid
• many vitamins

Bases:

• soap
• dishwashing liquid
• egg whites
• ammonia
• blood

        Alright, so if you don't know this already, there's something called a pH scale that you can use to tell how strong an acid or base is. The highest acid is a 1. The lowest acid is a 6. The highest base is a 14. And the lowest base is an 8. Water is nuetral. Here's a picture:
                
      

   Okay, so maybe you're wondering what happens if you mix them together. Well, the answer is relatively simple: the base will make the acid neutral, and vice versa.       

 P.S.  Here's a video, in case you wanna watch it:

        



An acid: vinegar



A nuetral: water

A base: laundry detergent