Difference Between Acids And Bases

One of the most viral videos on Youtube are parents giving their children a lemon to suck on. The hysterical faces the children make is a response to the amount of acidity they are tasting. Acids and bases can usually be defined by your senses. For example, edible acids usually have a sour taste(4). Bases are more bitter-tasting and unstable(4). But, your senses are not the only ways you could detect acids. Sometimes you have to use measurements like the pH scale to detect if a substance is a acid or a base. Since, acids and bases surround us, it is important know information about them and how to detect them.

Before we start measuring acid we have to know what they are. “The word acid comes from the latin term “acidus” or sour” (4). The reason why acidic things tend to be sour is because of their hydrogen ion concentration. When you taste something sour, the hydrogen ion mixes with another substance ( probably your saliva) which provides more ions. and since your tongue gains ions, it absorbs the flavor as sour. Vinegar, lemons, lime, etc.. are some examples of some sour acidic drinks, …show more content…
The older term of base is “alkali” which means a chemical compound that subdues acids(4 & 9). Bases are said to be very unstable, bitter-tasting, and they are less reactive than an acid . For example, If you drink something from the dairy department, your stomach is most likely not going to hurt or create as much gas as a strong acid like Coca-cola would. The reason being is because of a two processes called dissociation and neutralization. Dissociation is the separation of a molecule into ions. It is a key factor for evaluation the “strength”of acids and bases(4). Neutralization is mixing a strong acid with a strong base(3). For example, if you mix 2 hydrogens and one oxygen it makes water. Same thing if you mix mentos with a bottle of soda. It all depends on what acid and base your using and how strong it