In article <abergman-8086D2.01584301042005@localhost>,
Aaron Bergman > wrote:

> In article om>,
> "Heidi" > wrote:
>
> > If that were true then we would have nasty acid burns from canned soup
> > and vegetables! When you dissolve salt in water, you get salt water.
> > Both H2O and NACl are very stable compounds and it would take quite a
> > lot of energy to make them separate into their elements (H and O or NA
> > and Cl) which is what would be required to enable them to recombine in
> > to HCl.
>
> When dissolved in water, there are natural concentrations of [OH] and
> [H] (H_3 O? It's been a long time since chemistry.). There's something
> like 10^-7 mols of ions per dl^3. The exponent there is what gives you
> the pH of 7. Salt dissolved in water also separates into [Na] and [Cl]
> to a fairly large extent, IIRC. So does HCl. In particularly, what makes
> HCl such a strong acid is that it disassociates a lot and gives you a
> lot of excess hydrogen ions which get to react with everything.
>
> Or something like that.
>
> Aaron

Same for Sodium Hypochlorite.... ;-) But it's basic, not acidic, and
still a terrible caustic.

A 10% solution of NaOCl has a higher ionization potential than using it
pure, so it has better disinfection properties. That is why we use a 10%
solution on the counters in the lab at work. It kills all viruses and
bacteria on contact.

It'll also eat your skin, and ruin your clothing colors if you splash!

And it'll kill you with the fumes if you mix it with HCl!

We get people into the ER every spring that mix those two chemicals in
the bathroom for spring cleaning. :-( Never mix ammonia and HCl either!!!

Hell, never mix HCl with ANYTHING! While it's great for removing lime
deposits quickly, it can be very dangerous if used carelessly.

And never use it on Cast iron. ;-)
--
K.