General properties of acids and bases and their effects on other substances are among the important information you should know about them. Generally, we need them in our lives to neutralize other chemicals like acids and bases. For example, when eating fruits and vegetables, you may encounter fruits with a bitter taste and vegetables with a pungent taste. These bitter components are mainly due to the bitter taste of the fruits or vegetables.
Most of us can easily differentiate which fruit is which. But, we usually fail to recognize the properties of compounds that are found in different foods. Generally speaking, inorganic chemicals reactions take place when the inorganic chemicals come into contact with each other. They can be either polar or non-polar in nature. Most of us, however, are not aware of the fact that non-polar compounds may also have polar opposite charges. These polar and non-polar compounds have different uses and purposes in chemical reactions and hence, they should be distinguished appropriately.
Among all the organic chemicals that can react with each other, sodium chloride is among the most important chemical reaction that takes place. Generally speaking, organic compounds having a positive charge will repel other compounds while the reverse is true for the inorganic compounds. This explains why you find compounds like sodium chloride having opposite charges on both sides of a magnet. It is a practical fact that sodium chloride reacts with both acids and bases.
The other examples of inorganic chemicals having similar charges but opposite polarity are alkyls, alkalies, and carbonates. When two such compounds are mixed, their hydrogen and oxygen atoms will get separating. This separation will produce a compound with two separate ions. This means that one atom will be charged and the other will be negatively charged. A sodium-hydroxide molecule is made up of a combination of these two atomic sodium ions. Other examples of inorganic chemicals having similar structures to sodium hydroxide include carbon dioxide, sulfuric acid, and ammonia.
One thing that should be kept in mind is that all inorganic compounds are massed substances and hence they possess the same properties whether they are of the solid or liquid form. However, bulk solid substances are made up of more elements which include oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and sulfur. All the four properties of these bulk solid compounds are present in all organic compounds as well. Only the way in which the charges are attached to the atoms of different substances differs. Organic compounds possessing similar chemical and electrical properties are known as organic compounds.
The uses of acids and bases are innumerable. Some common examples of these include the manufacturing of ceramic goods, in the construction of steel structure and in the separation of solids from liquids. There are many highly corrosive chemicals that are used for these purposes, but the strength of these chemicals depends upon their chemical composition and some of them react very violently with water. The highly corrosive agents like hydrochloric acid and oxalic acid are found in various products like paint, lacquer, varnish, floor coating etc.
Several industrial uses of acids and bases are seen in the chemical industry. Most acids that are used for the manufacture of steel have a base component that has a very low electrical charge. This base component is often very highly toxic and its use in this industry leads to several health hazards. Sodium hydroxide, a very strong inorganic acid, for example, finds wide applications in the chemical industry because of its oxidizing and combustive properties. In certain cases, when this highly corrosive acid comes into contact with metal it develops a gradual corrosion which may cause irreparable damage to the metal or may even lead to the rusting of the metal.
One other important group of inorganic compounds is the alkaline salts of sulfur and sodium. These salts have their origin in the coal industry. There are a number of different ways in which these salts can be used. Some of these applications include treating metal fatigue, cleaning oxidized metals, precipitating, and cleaning metallic fluids etc. So far the applications of acids and bases and their salts have seen numerous applications in the chemical industry but there are many more areas where they can be used.