The chemical bases are a lot of products of daily use at home and in certain foods that might not imagine. After all, science is anywhere.
When I was beginning my chemistry studies at university, one of my professors urged us to be curious and investigative, qualities that characterize a good scientist.
Inspired by his words, I took a roll of litmus paper and began to measure the pH of everything I had in my house. I was really surprised by how many things had a basic pH in the home.
In fact, I remember that the only thing that changed the litmus paper to red was the ketchup tomato sauce (which makes sense since its ingredients are tomato and vinegar).
As I have mentioned in other articles, a base is a chemical compound with the ability to accept protons, donate hydroxyl, or possess a pair of free electrons. They have the property of neutralizing acids, increasing the pH of a solution and turning litmus paper blue.
Foundations are very important in everyday use and often go unnoticed. Without bases, persistent stains on clothes would not come off, you would have dirty mirrors and even intestinal problems such as gastric reflux and constipation could not be alleviated (SPM Chemistry Form 4 Notes - Acids and Bases (Part 2), 2013).
Next I give a list of bases of daily use that at the time, gave a blue coloration to litmus paper. All these bases are in the products of daily use and food (Acids vs. Bases, SF).
Figure 1: pH scale and some examples of pH of everyday substances.
Examples of bases that we find in the home
1- Coffee and tea: the caffeine molecule (1,3,7 trimethylxanthine) bears his name because it was discovered in coffee beans.
Later it was discovered that it also exists in tea leaves in higher concentration. This molecule, a purine very similar to adenine and, like it, is a nitrogenous base.
Figure 2: coffee and caffeine molecule.
2- Chocolate: similar to coffee, chocolate contains a compound called theobromine which is a purine nitrogenous base.
This compound is responsible for making chocolate taste so good, however, dogs and cats do not metabolize theobromine, which causes damage to the heart and central nervous system. In conclusion, never give your pet chocolate (Reactions, 2016).
Figure 3: chocolate and theobromine molecule
3- Chlorine: chlorine is actually hypochlorite or sodium chlorite, depending on whether it is chlorine for swimming pools or chlorine for washing clothes.
Hypochlorite and chlorite ions are the conjugated bases of hypochlorous and chlorous acids respectively that in aqueous solution have the ability to take protons from water, increasing the concentration of hydroxyl in the medium (Acids and Bases - Real-life applications, SF).
ClO - + H 2 O → HClO + OH -
ClO 2 - + H 2 O → HClO 2 + OH -
4- Bleach: The strongest commercially available base, cleans ovens and unclogs pipes. Lye, or sodium hydroxide (NaOH), is a main component in drain cleaners, liquefying the trash so it can be washed through the pipes.
Caustic, bleach-based oven cleaners cut through material cooked in the oven. It must be handled with care as it can cause severe chemical burns.
Baking soda is safe to touch. Drinking a few pinches of baking soda dissolved in water will neutralize some of the excess acid in your stomach. It also makes a mildly abrasive and non-toxic cleaning agent.
6- Borax: Also known as sodium tetraborate (Na 2 B4O 7 10H 2 O), it once helped preserve mummies in ancient Egypt. Now it keeps clothes fresh and kills pests in the home. Its pH of 9.2 means that it is 920 times more alkaline than pure water.
Borax contributes an oxygen ion to the water to form hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) in solution, making it a disinfectant and a mild bleaching agent.
Avoid handling borax directly or for too long as it can cause skin irritation. Borax is slightly toxic if ingested. (Whitney, 2017).
7- Ammonia: the term "ammonia" refers to both an irritant gas (NH 3) and the cleaning product (NH 4 OH) that results from the dissolution of ammonia in water. Household ammonia has a pH of 11, or 50 times stronger than that of milk of magnesia.
It is a powerful household cleaner that cleans virtually any surface of dirt and grease (Cascio, 2017).
9- Milk of Magnesia: This common antacid and laxative got its milky name for its opacity. Magnesium hydroxide has a pH of 10.5. Commercial milk of magnesia preparations use mint or fruit flavors to hide the bitter taste that is characteristic of alkaline substances.
10- Antacids: it is common to use weak bases to relieve heartburn. Compounds such as sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO 3), magnesium carbonate (MgCO 3), calcium carbonate (CaCO 3) and aluminum hydroxide (Al (OH) 3) are the active ingredients of antacids.
11- Deodorants: aluminum hydroxide is also the active ingredient in deodorants. It acts as a bactericide, eliminating the bacteria that feed on proteins and fats in sweat that are secreted by the apocrine glands (Reaction, 2015).
12- Soap: soap is the product of the neutralization of sodium hydroxide and stearic acid. The latter is a saturated fatty acid with 18 carbon atoms.
The product of this neutralization is sodium stearate, which in aqueous solution forms the stearate ion.
This molecule contains a polar and a non-polar part, which is why it is known as the amphipathic molecule and they are responsible for removing fats and other aliphatic compounds from clothing or the body.
References
- Acids and Bases - Real-life applications. (SF). Recovered from scienceclarified.com.
- Acids vs. Bases. (SF). Recovered from acids-vs-bases.weebly.com.
- Cascio, C. (2017, April 25). Acid & Base Real-World Examples. Recovered from sciencing.com.
- (2015, September 21). How Do Deodorants and Antiperspirants Work?. Recovered from youtube.com.
- Reactions. (2016, January 18). Why is Chocolate Bad for Dogs?. Recovered from youtube.com.
- SPM Chemistry Form 4 Notes - Acids and Bases (Part 2). (2013, March 2). Recovered from berryberryeasy.com.
- Whitney, L. (2017, April 25). Bases Used As Common Household Products. Recovered from sciencing.com.