What makes biscuits rise? How does an antacid help to take away heartburn? How does baking soda keep your refrigerator smelling fresh? Learning about the reactions of acids and bases will help you answer each of these questions.

Baking

Many recipes call for the addition of sour milk. Cooks often make sour milk by mixing vinegar or lemon juice into regular milk. When baking soda (base) and sour milk (acid) mix together, they form a frothy mass. The reaction releases carbon dioxide gas in the form of bubbles. This reaction makes pancake, cookie, and biscuit dough rise.

Health Care

Heartburn occurs when too much acid is produced in your stomach. To treat heartburn, many people take antacid tablets. Antacids are bases that help neutralize the acid in a person's stomach. When an acid and a base combine, they cancel out each other’s properties. The result is a neutral substance. This chemical reaction is called neutralization.

Deodorizing

 

 

 

 Neutralization helps baking soda remove odours from a refrigerator. Baking soda (a base) cancels out acidic food odours.

Corrosion
Substances found near either end of the pH scale are highly corrosive. This means that they can cause severe burns to skin and other body tissues. They can even eat through substances such as rock or metal.

Sulfuric acid can be found near one end of the pH scale, at about 0. Drain cleaner is near the other end. Both are highly corrosive.

What affects corrosion?
Corrosion is the wearing away of materials by chemical action. It is also known as rusting. Oxygen is the primary cause of this chemical reaction. Substances such as acid rain and salt speed up the process.

Road salt is used to make roads safe for winter driving, but it is also extremely corrosive and over time can cause extensive damage to vehicles.

The biggest threat salt poses to a vehicle is rust, which is accelerated by repeated exposure to salt.