HOW ARE ACIDS AND ALKALIS USED IN INDUSTRY?

Many products and processes require the use of acids and alkalis. Here are just some of them. Car batteries contain acid. Acids are also used to make fertilizer, paint, detergents, plastics, dyes and some artificial fabrics. Alkalis are used in the manufacture of soap, floor cleaners, indigestion tablets and cement.

The most commonly made industrial chemical in the world, sulphuric acid has numerous applications across industries. Companies make it as a precursor to phosphoric acid, which, in turn, finds use in detergents and phosphate fertilizers. However, if it gets out into the environment, sulphuric acid can acidify rain. Many industries use and make nitric acid for use in nitrate fertilizers and in explosives. The steel industry uses hydrochloric acid to clean metal sheets before processing. On the other side of the pH scale, paper manufacturers make use of sodium hydroxide to remove lignin from paper pulp. Also called lye, food producers use it as a chemical peeling agent for fruits. Bleach also finds use in the production of explosives, and care should be taken in the household, where it can commonly be found.

Perhaps the most common alkaline material found in the average home, sodium bicarbonate is a relatively weak base, weighing in at a pH of 8.3. Also known as baking soda, sodium bicarbonate is commonly used as a cooking ingredient where it acts to lower the temperature at which the browning reaction occurs. Humans also use it in products to soothe stomach acid.

Sodium hydroxide has a pH that sits around 14, the top of the pH scale. Commonly called lye or soda lye, the chemical reacts rapidly in water, causing a rapid rise in temperature that, in some cases, can ignite combustible materials. Because it is so corrosive, it is rare for commercial outlets to sell it in concentrations in water higher than 50 percent. It has some human uses, including the manufacturing of paper, explosives, dyes and soaps. Many household drain and oven cleaners also contain lye.

Humans create ammonium hydroxide by adding ammonia gas to water, which creates a liquid with a high pH and a stark ammonia smell. Highly poisonous and caustic, ammonium hydroxide can kill or seriously injure human beings. Mostly, commercial producers sell this chemical as household ammonia, a common cleaning agent.

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