Acids, Bases And Their Effects Research Assignment (Essay Sample)

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Introduction
Acids and bases are found almost everywhere and are an essential part of households. Acids and bases are present in foods and fruits such as lemons that contain citric acid and dairy products that include lactic acid. Usage of acids and bases extends or stretches beyond the perimeters of scientific laboratories to playing an essential role in everyday life as chemical components in consumer and food products. Without acids and bases, most of today's consumer and food products would be rendered ineffective (Enger, Eldon D, and Bradley F Smith).
Some of the selected consumer products concerning their acid/base chemical composition play a vital role in everyday life regarding everything from food digestion to medicines. The essential role played by acids and bases in daily life is not limited to usage in food digestion, medication, as it extends to cleaning products, including toothpaste, everyday foods, and food products, antacid and other medicinal products, cleaning products among others as core chemical components (Enger, Eldon D, and Bradley F Smith).
Consumer products
Toothpaste
Individuals brushing their teeth every morning after waking up get to experience their first base usage of the day. Toothpaste used in the process of teeth cleaning and cleaning contains a chemical component called sodium fluoride that belongs to the group of weak bases characterized by high potential of hydrogen ions (pH). Sodium fluoride being a weak base gives toothpaste its normal high pH that aids in killing any bacteria and germs found to be residing in the mouth at the time of brushing and mouth washing. Those bacteria and germs prefer a habitat that is neutral to slightly acidic, that is precisely the conditions of an individual's unbrushed mouth hence the use of a base to neutralize the slightly acidic environment they inhabit essentially flushing them out (Enger, Eldon D, and Bradley F Smith).
Antacid
The stomach which is an internal human body organ has gastric glands that produce gastric juice that is extremely acidic due to it majorly being gastric acid that gives it extreme acidic nature with pH highs ranging from 1-2 on the pH scale. Gastric acid from gastric juice aids in the breakdown of food and subsequent digestion as it activates digestion enzymes that in turn break down proteins in the diet already ingested. The extremely acidic environment in the stomach goes further to control and keep off potentially harmful and disease-causing germs, bacteria, and any other microorganisms from getting to the small and large intestines that are the ileum and colon respectively where they can cause severe stomach ailments (Mepham, B.).
When the stomach produces too much of this gastric acid in the gastric juice there occurs a condition commonly known as a ‘'heartburn'' that in biological realms referred is an acid reflux. This unhealthy state that is an acid reflux starts to creep up the gut at the esophagus due to overproduction of gastric acid in the stomach by gastric glands, and it is this overproduction that antacids come in to counter. Antacids are used to neutralize the excess gastric acid in their most basic formula to provide an individual a cooling relief from the burning sensation that is a characteristic of heartburn that results from an acid reflux (Enger, Eldon D, and Bradley F Smith).
Surface and laundry cleaning agents
Some of the most basic and standard surface and laundry cleaning agents and products have base or acid components that give them their characteristic basic or acidic properties that not only boost but also enhance their cleaning power. Essentially, the basic or acidic features of the chemical components of the many cleaning agents allow them to permeate through the dirt and clear it (Enger, Eldon D, and Bradley F Smith).
Food products
Food
Everyday foods and food products consumed have characteristic acidic or basic properties to them. Mainly, foods consumed for breakfast are quite an acidic example being fruit juices with foods consumed during lunches being mostly basic as is evident from the indulgence in protein and carbohydrate foods during such a time by many individuals (Mepham, B.).
Evaluation of the impact of the chemical additiv...