Acids and Bases - Uses Of Acids And Bases

Uses of acids and bases

Many specific uses of acids and bases have been discussed above. Generally, strong acids and bases are used for cleaning and, most importantly, for synthesizing other compounds. Their utility is illustrated by the fact that three of the top 10 chemicals produced in the US in 1994 are acids or bases: sulfuric acid (#1, 89 billion lbs/40 billion kg produced), sodium hydroxide (#8, 26 billion lbs/12 billion kg produced), and phosphoric acid (#9, 25 billion lbs/11 billion kg produced). Weak acids and bases have specific uses in society which are so variable that the specific compound entry should be consulted.

Resources

Books

Oxtoby, David W., et al. The Principles of Modern Chemistry. 5th ed. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 2002.

Scorpio, Ralph. Fundamental of Acids, Bases, Buffers & Their Application to Biochemical Systems. Falls Church, VA: Kendall/Hunt, 2000.

Snyder, C.H. The Extraordinary Chemistry of Ordinary Things. 4th ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2002.

David W. Ball

KEY TERMS

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Functional group: —In organic chemistry, certain specific groupings of atoms in a molecule.
Ionic compound: —A compound consisting of positive ions (usually, metal ions) and negative ions (nonmetal ions) held together by electrostatic attraction.

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User Comments Add a comment…

2 months ago

jeric taniero

give me the 10 other uses of acids

2 months ago

paulka » paulka13 ((at)) yahoo dot com

i just want to know waht are the uses and importance of acids only and not the bases

2 months ago

jAnicA :) » cazinova_NYC99 ((at)) yahoo dot com

where can i find the common base compounds!!? PLZz,i have my aSsignment and i can't find it anywhere!!

2 months ago

mansa » dhidhika ((at)) gmail dot com

why does strong acids fumes when being poured or used in labs from one beaker to another

9 months ago

jheca » ChEvErLuU_23 ((at)) yahoo dot com

i want to know that how do acids and basis exists?? .. who was the first person who discovered it??? ...

10 months ago

jennie » nennygeez ((at)) yahoo dot com

what the heck all i want to know is the main uses of bases. THATS IT! grrr i cant find it anywhere, and my project is due tomaro. ugh

about 1 year ago

karen » karenmedina ((at)) yahoo dot com

i want to know what are the uses of acids and bases

about 1 year ago

jimbob » iikkll ((at)) hotmail dot com

no it aint i need to find out how we use acids at home

about 1 year ago

kirsyt » x-kirkii-xd-x ((at)) hotmail dot co dot uk

coool