Everyday examples of uses of Acids, Alkalis & Hazard Signs

in the home, school/college laboratory, industry, your body!

Doc Brown's Chemistry GCSE/IGCSE ScienceChemistry Revision Notes
pH scale of acidity and alkalinity, acids, basesalkalis, salts and neutralisation
1. Examples of everyday acids 7alkali chemistry in the home or industry, hazard
warning symbols (safety signs!), examples of the pH of common materials in
aqueous solution e.g. acids, alkalis, salts you may encounter from domestic
products to the school or college laboratory

Acids, alkalis and salts are different types of chemicals with a huge variety of uses.
Alkalis The chemistry of acids and basesalkalis is introduced by looking at common
domestic examples in the home and not just in industry or the chemical laboratory.
Lime, antacids, lime, bee/wasp stings, sodium bicarbonate, ammonia, sodium
hydroxide, hydrochloric acid all get a mention!
These revision notes on the use of acids, alkalis, pH meters, pH paper and examples of
the pH of many solutions and hazard signs (hazard warning symbols) for acids and
alkalis should prove useful for the new AQA chemistry, Edexcel chemistry & OCR
chemistry GCSE (91, 9-5 & 5-1) science courses.
GCSE/IGCSE Acids & Alkalis revision notes subindex: Index of all pH, Acids,
Alkalis, Salts Notes 1. Examples of everyday acids, alkalis, salts, pH of solution,
hazard warning signs : 2. pH scale, indicators, ionic theory of acidsalkali
neutralisation : 4. Reactions of acids with metals/oxides/hydroxides/carbonates,
neutralisation reactions : 5. Reactions of basesalkalis like ammonia & sodium
hydroxide : 6. Four methods of making salts : 7. Changes in pH in a
neutralisation, choice and use of indicators : 8. Important formulae of
compounds, salt solubility and water of crystallisation : 10. More on AcidBase
Theory and Weak and Strong Acids
See also

Advanced Level Chemistry Students AcidBase Revision Notes use

index

1. Introducing a few examples of everyday acidalkali chemistry and chemicals

In this introductory page of 'everyday' acid, alkali and salt chemistry, I have assumed
that in your earlier school studies you have gained some idea of what the terms pH,
acid, alkali, salt and neutralisation mean.
You should know that acids and bases/alkalis react together in a neutralisation reaction
to form salts which occur in many domestic products for the home and garden.
If you are not sure any term used in section 1. revise the basics from section 2., which
eventually goes on a bit further theoretically in section 2c.
BUT some basic REMINDERS a low pH is very acid, pH 7 is neutral, a very high
pH means very alkaline and ~ means approximately.
The terms used on this page like acid, alkali and pH are explained in more
theoretical detail in Parts 2 ....
pH scale, indicators, ionic theory of acids, alkalis (bases) & neutralisation

EXAMPLES of the 'everyday life' of acids, alkalis and neutralisation to form salts

In the HOME: Alkaline lime/quicklime (CaO, calcium oxide) or slaked lime (Ca(OH)2,
calcium hydroxide), are put on soil that is too acid for healthy plant growth. Powdered
limestone (CaCO3, calcium carbonate) is slower and less effective. All three chemicals
react with acids to neutralise them.

Theoretically the pH scale extends to <1 and >14 and there are solutions that are
so acid or so alkaline!
You can pretest the soil with pH paper and match the colour the paper turns with the
pH number it indicates. These chemicals can be used on a larger scale in farming and
treating acidic rivers and lakes.

The alkali ammonia NH3 is a component in some oven cleaners and

will react with fatty acids.
Citric acid is found in citrus fruits and is used as a food and drink
flavouring, as is tartaric acid.
Table salt, used in preserving food and sprinkling over your fish and
chips as a flavouring etc. is the chemical sodium chloride NaCl.
Hydrochloric acid HCl and phosphoric acid H3PO4 are components of limescale
removers.
Salts are used to produce the colours in fireworks e.g. sodium chloride a yellow
flame, calcium chloride makes a red flame and copper chloride can produce green and
blue effects.
Antacid indigestion tablets are mild alkalis that react by neutralising excess stomach
acid which is the 'strong' hydrochloric acid which your delicate stomach lining and upper
gut can only take so much of. The antacids must be weak bases i.e. mild alkalis or
harmless insoluble bases like calcium carbonate or magnesium hydroxide which readily
react with hydrochloric acid. However, strong alkalis are not to be recommended as a
suitable medication for 'heartburn' afflictions, since they can be just as irritating as
strong acids! See hazard warning signs further down the page and also "Investigation
of Indigestion Tablets".
Bicarbonate or (sodium hydrogencarbonate NaHCO3, sodium bicarbonate, baking
powder) can be used with sour milk (acidic) for raising action in baking. The acidic milk
reacts with 'Bicarb' to form carbon dioxide gas giving the rising action. You can easily
demonstrate this by adding any common laboratory acid to baking powder or any other
carbonate!
Acidic bee stings (pH 5.05.5) can be soothed, i.e. neutralised by calomine lotion, which is a mild alkali
and antiseptic and antiitching agent based on zinc oxide. You can
also use baking soda ('bicarb of soda' or sodium hydrogen
carbonate), another mild alkali.

Wasp stings are supposed to be alkaline, but

apparently not so! they are almost neutral at pH 6.8
6.9 but are 'traditionally' treated with vinegar which is a weak acid (and
then perhaps you need the calomine too!). I've come across
references on the web to say that wasp stings are not alkaline so
'English folklore' and mildweak acid treatment has no real scientific basis. It should be
pointed out that sting venom is a complex mixture, including many proteinenzymes,
which, with other 'foreign' substances, might well trigger a response from the bodies
immune system, so, in all honesty, I'm not quite sure what the truth is! However, what is
known is that (i) bees and wasps have glands that can secrete either acids or alkalis
with other substances and (ii) ants sting venom often contains methanoic acid ('formic

acid') which can have a pH of 3 and is presumably 'soothed' by mild alkalis and just to
confuse matters more, (iii) many people claim the 'folklore' remedies work! and maybe
they do!
Ammonium salts, phosphate salts and magnesium/potassium sulfate salts are used in
fertilisers for the garden.
Soluble aspirin is made by neutralising the acidic form of the medication with sodium
hydroxide to make a soluble salt, or its made in situ with a bicarbonate 'fizzing' mixture.
Acids and alkalis are useful in your body! Your stomach produces hydrochloric acid
to help in digestion of proteins. Certain digestive enzymes only function properly in very
acid conditions i.e. a low pH <2. Pancreatic fluids are alkaline to suit the conditions
required by enzymes breaking down starches, fats and proteins. The hydrochloric acid
in your stomach kills a large % of potentially harmful bacteria, minimising the risk of food
poisoning and irritation of the gut system. However, as mentioned above, if you produce
too much acid you get indigestion and need to take an antacid indigestion tablet to
neutralise the excess. More body chemistry, preferably to be avoided!
The strong alkali sodium hydroxide NaOH is used bleaches and other cleaning
products.
The equally strong alkali potassium hydroxide KOH is used in alkaline batteries.
In the chemical INDUSTRY
Alkalis like lime (calcium oxide, CaO) and limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO 3)
are used to reduce the acidity in soil, the neutralisation reaction produces the optimum
pH for crops to grow.
Sodium hydroxide NaOH, one of the most commonly used alkalis, is used to
neutralise aspirin making 'soluble aspirin'. Aspirin is an organic acid and not very soluble
in water, but, its sodium salt is much more soluble and is absorbed faster by the body
for more effective treatment.
Ammonia NH3 gas is a weak alkali and neutralised by sulphuric acid or nitric acid to
form ammonium sulphate or ammonium nitrate salts. These are important agri
chemical fertilisers supplying nitrogen to the soil for better plant growth. Of course some
people prefer organic growing using good old muck and compost, but it doesn't involve
neutralisation, but it does involve my wife, who is a member of the Soil Association!
NPK fertilisers for agriculture contain potassium, ammonium and phosphate salts.

Neutralising harmful sulphur dioxide gas (acidic, irritating and

toxic SO2) in power station smoke from burning fossil fuels, by
absorbing it in alkaline calcium hydroxide solution (limewater) to
absorb it. Eventually harmless calcium sulphate solution is formed.
Acids can be used to clean corroded metal surfaces because of
their reactivity to metals and metal oxides to form soluble salts which
can be washed away to leave a cleaner metal surface. Concentrated
acid solutions are used to remove limescale from the ceramic (unreactive)
sides of toilets. Limescale is the buildup of a limestone like deposit in areas
of hard water.
Alkalis are important chemicals in many industrial processes e.g.
Heating natural oils and fats with strong alkalis like sodium hydroxide
produces soaps.
Alkalis are used either directly, or to make other chemicals that bind natural dyes to
cloth and other fabrics.
The alkali sodium carbonate is used in making glass.
In the past alkalis have been obtained from burnt wood, burnt seaweed and stale urine,
but they are now may made on a huge bulk scale from industrial processes e.g. sodium
chloride is manufactured from the electrolysis of brine (sodium chloride solution) and is
then used to make many other products. Sodium carbonate is made from calcium
carbonate (limestone) and common salt (sodium chloride) by the Solvay Process.
So all of this is still pretty important chemistry even for the 21st century, with strong links
to agriculture, the environment and leading a stressful life!
Of course there are 'downsides' to some of this 'acidic' chemistry: Acid rain increases
the rate of corrosion of stonework (particularly limestone) and metal structures. Acid rain
makes water too acid for some aquatic organisms to live and this in turn affects food
chains e.g. salmon do not like water with a pH below 4.5! Living on Venus could be hard
going, its atmosphere is mainly sulphuric acid, mind you, you should be ok in a plastic
suit because plastics don't usually react with acids, which is why, as well as being
cheaper, plastics are replacing water pipes, drain pipes and gutters etc.

HAZARD WARNING SYMBOLS you should know

The hazard signs for irritant, harmful and corrosive are those most appropriate
when dealing with acids and alkalis

HAZAR
D
WARNIN
G SIGN

For all experiments, appropriate risk assessments should be done

and hazcards studied etc. This table illustrates the use of hazard
warning signs with common examples, and may NOT provide
sufficient detail for specific laboratory experiments and detailed safe
procedures, concentration factors (e.g. dilute or concentrated,
'doing labs', coursework write up from school/college investigations
etc.

Symbol

Examples of what might be labelled/classified with this hazard

warning sign (definitions above)
Irritant: Most acidic and alkaline solutions unless very dilute, VERY
small quantities of acidic gases like chlorine, sulphur dioxide,
nitrogen dioxide, very dilute bleaches. These may not be that
corrosive BUT they will cause irritation of the skin and reddening
and blistering.
Harmful: Some acids e.g. nitric acid; acidic gases like chlorine,
sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide; bleaches; heavy metal ions e.g. of
lead, barium; some salts e.g. silver nitrate, copper sulfate. They are
not quite as harmful as toxic chemicals but they can certainly make
you ill.
Corrosive: All concentrated acidic and alkaline solutions will attack
many materials and destroy living tissue too!

Highly flammable: Most organic solvents like hexane, propanone

(acetone), petrol and other hydrocarbon fuels are easily ignited and
catch fire.

Toxic: Chlorine, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen cyanide can cause

death if breathed in with sufficient quantity, absorbed through the
skin or ingested by swallowing. Salts of hydrogen cyanide e.g.
potassium cyanide are highly toxic you only have a short time to
take an antidote mixture!
Oxidising: Chemicals that can act as oxidising agents e.g. chlorine
gas/solution and oxygen gas/liquid, potassium manganate(VII),
potassium chlorate (in some weed killers). Many oxidising agents

donate oxygen to materials that burn and can be dangerously

reactive. Many can cause combustion if mixed with an oxidisable
combustible material.
Explosive: TNT, hydrogen, fireworks, peroxides

Radioactive: Radioisotopes giving off dangerous ionising radiation

pH examples of common acidic, alkaline and neutral substances in

aqueous solution

The pH scale and indicators are explained in more detail in section 2. ,

The diagram illustrates what you might see when a universal indicator (mixture
of several different colour changing indicators) is added to a variety of solutions
with a wide variation of pH i.e. a wide range of acidity and alkalinity.
Basically a low pH is very acid, pH 7 is neutral, and a high pH means very
alkaline (~ means approximately in the table below).
An acid solution is defined as one with a pH of less than 7, neutral solutions
have a pH of 7 (or as near as make no difference if the solutions has acidic or
alkaline properties) and alkaline solutions have a pH of over 7. The 'opposite'

of an acid is a base, and a soluble base is called an alkali.

It is important to understand two things about pH and pH scale:
(i) pH is a measure of the hydrogen ion (H+) concentration (see section 2.
ionic theory)
The lower the pH, the higher the hydrogen ion concentration, that is more acid.
I know this seems confusing, but that's the way pH scale has been defined.
(ii) Each pH unit change is equivalent to a 10x change in concentration of the
hydrogen ion.
For example changing the pH of a solution from pH 3 to pH 4 makes it 10x less
acidic.
Changing a solution's pH from 7 to 5 makes it 100x more acidic (10 x 10).

STRONG
ACID
pH <2

H2SO4
sulphuric
acid (car
battery acid)
pH 1

WEAK
ACID
pH 26

WEAK

STRONG

~NEUTRAL

ALKALI

ALKALI

~pH 7

(weak soluble
base)

(strong
soluble base)

pH 812

pH >12

toothpaste
pH 8

NaOH
sodium
hydroxide pH
1314

Ca(OH)2

KOH

vitamin C
very pure
(ascorbic acid) deionised H2O
pH ~3
water pH7

sulfuric acid
HCl

CH3COOH

NaCl sodium

hydrochloric
acid (in the acetic/ethanoi
lab is same as
c acid
chloride (salt
your
(vinegar) pH
water) ~pH 7
stomach!) pH
~2 3
01

calcium
hydroxide
(limewater,
slaked lime)
pH 12

potassium
hydroxide pH
1314

HNO3 nitric
acid pH 1

fruit juices e.g.

MgSO4
orange juice
magnesium
and lemon
sulphate
juice contain
(Epsom salts)
citric acid pH
pH ~6.5 7.0
23

Na2CO3
sodium
carbonate
(washing
soda) pH 11

oven cleaner
if it contains
NaOH, pH can
be >12, so
take care!

Limescale
remover, pH
<1, so take
care!

C6H12O6
(glucose and
other sugars)
pH 7

NH3 ammonia
bleach
pH 11, in
solution
some
might be over
domestic
pH 12
cleaning fluids

C2H5OH
ethanol
('alcohol') pH
7

Caustic soda
drain cleaner
soap powder can be pH 13
pH 11
14, based on
sodium
chloride

milk pH 6

wine/beer pH
36

rain water
some 'natural
Sea water
naturally has a
fluids' e.g.
has a pH of
pH of pH ~5.5
~7.5 8.5 and
due to the
has many
blood ~7.2
dissolved
different salts
7.4
weakly acidic
dissolved in it
gas carbon
and
saliva ~6.4
dioxide from
bicarbonates
6.9
the
causing the
atmosphere
very slight
cows milk
('carbonic
alkalinity.
~6.6
acid'), but it
can fall to pH human milk
~3.5 due to
6.6 7.6
even more
acidic sulphur
dioxide gas
from fossil fuel

burning.

cider 2.9
3.3

Bee sting, pH
5.0 5.5

Was sting,
pH 6.8 6.9

NaHCO3
sodium
hydrogen
carbonate
('bicarb',
baking soda,
bread soda)
pH 8

Mg(OH)2
magnesium
hydroxide
('milk of
magnesia') pH
10 10.5

Pancreatic
juice for your
digestive
system can be
as alkaline as
pH 10

Washingup
liquid ~pH 89

You can
measure the pH
of a solution
very accurately
using a pH
meter and a
glass membrane
pH probe.
The pH meter is
calibrated
against a
standard buffer
solution of

accurately
known pH

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