Shan O'Shea, age ,13, of Spokane, Wash., for his question:
WHAT IS ACID?
Acid is the name of a group of organic or inorganic chemical compounds that have a sour taste when dissolved in water. They can also be defined as any chemical substance that can combine with a hydroxyl ion.
Almost all acids have hydrogen but not all compounds that contain hydrogen are acids.
Inorganice acids include sulfuric acid, chloric acid, nitric acid and phosphoric acid. Many of the inorganic acids are strong.
Sulfuric acid, nitric acid and hydrochloric acids are used in producing metals, plastics, explosives, textiles and dyes. They are manufactured by the thousands of tons.
Organic acids contain carbon atoms. Carboxylic acids are the most common type of organic acids. Formic acid, acetic acid and butyric acid fall into this group.
Sulfonic acids are strong organic acids derived from sulfuric acid. Salts of sulfonic acid are widely used in dyes and detergents. Phenols are very weak organic acids that contain a hydroxyl group.
Many acids are harmless and many be taken into the body. These include citric acid in oranges and lemons, tartaric acid in grapes, malic acid in apples and acetic acid in vinegar.
Amino acids are a group of acids that contain nitrogen. They may be derived from the breakdown of proteins. Several of the amino acids are essential to life in man.
Many acids are deadly poisons, even though they are made up of the harmless and comon elements carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. These poisons include oxalic acid and carbolic acid.
Amino acid is an organic acid that makes up all of the proteins in living things. Scientists call amino acids the building blocks of proteins. Green plants make their own amino acids but humans must get most from protein foods such as eggs, meat, milk products and some vegetables.
The body actually breaks down certain foods into amino acids. It then links the amino acids together to form new proteins.
The body can make many different kinds of proteins. This is because a single protein may consist of 50 to 100 amino acid units. Also, the order of the amino acids may vary, producing different proteins.
Simple proteins may be made up of only four different kinds of amino acids. Other proteins may contain about 20.
All amino acids contain one or more groups of one nitrogen and two hydrogen atoms called amino groups. Amino acids are formed from amino groups and from certain organic acids.