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by Charlotte W. Luongo

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 What Are Chemicals?
When you hear the word chemicals, what do you think of? Maybe
the first thing that comes to mind is dangerous chemicals that cause
pollution or strange chemicals that can only be made in a lab. But not
all chemicals are dangerous or human-made. Most chemicals can be
found in nature. In fact, everything in nature is made of chemicals. Trees
are made of chemicals; air is made of chemicals; and even your body is
made of chemicals.
A chemical is anything that is made by or used in a chemical
reaction. Chemical reactions cause matter to go through a chemical
change. Both elements and compounds can go through chemical
changes. This means that all elements and compounds can be thought
of as chemicals.

Chemical Reactions and Digestion

All of the parts of your body are made from chemicals. Because
of this, all of the life processes that occur in your body are actually
chemical reactions. There are hundreds of chemical reactions happening
in your body all of the time.
But where do all these chemicals in your body come from? The
chemicals come from the food you eat! Every time you munch on some
nuts or take a bite out of an apple, you are eating the many different
chemical compounds found in those foods. Your digestive system has
to break down these chemicals so that they can be made into new
chemicals that your body can use. Look at the picture on the next page
to see how your body breaks down milk to keep your bones healthy.

2
 1. Milk contains many
chemicals, including
calcium, that are
important to your
health.
4. Blood carries calcium
to bones. Bones use
calcium to stay strong.

2. When milk enters

the stomach, it is
broken down.

3. The broken-down
chemicals, including
calcium, enter the
bloodstream from
the small intestine.

3
 Acids and Bases
What happens in your stomach to help break down the chemicals
in food? The walls of your stomach are like a chemical factory. They
continuously make a special type of chemical called an acid. An acid is a
type of compound that tastes sour and reacts with bases to form salts.
A base is a type of compound that tastes bitter, feels slippery, and reacts
with acids to form salts. Acids and bases neutralize each other.
Strong acids and bases are able to break down other chemicals. This
is why the acid in your stomach can break down the food you eat. In
fact, stomach acid is so strong that it can dissolve metal! It is important
for stomach acid to be this strong because it has to break down all of
the many different kinds of food that you eat.

Lemons, strawberries, black tea, yogurt, aspirin,

vinegar, and soda drinks all contain acids.

4
A Taste Test
Because strong acids and bases can dissolve things, never taste or
touch non-food items to tell whether they are acids or bases. However,
the human tongue can naturally distinguish between acids and bases.
Things that taste sour are acidic. Things that taste bitter are basic. The
stronger a sour or bitter taste is, the stronger the acid or base in the
food is.
Have you ever tasted lemon juice? It tastes sour because it’s acidic.
What other foods have you tasted that might be basic or acidic?
While there are many foods that are acidic, there are very few that
are basic. Many cleaning products are basic because they break down
grease. Antacids are bases because they help neutralize stomach acid.

Soaps, antacids, bleach, baking soda, glass cleaners,

and baker’s chocolate all contain bases.

5
 Testing for Acids and Bases
Substances called indicators can also be used to find out whether
something is an acid or a base. Indicators change colors when they
touch an acid or a base. Robert Boyle, a British scientist, first discovered
indicators in the 1600s. He, like many people before him, was curious
about what made acids different from bases. He used indicators to
separate acids from bases. After grouping the acids and bases, Boyle was
then able to study how they were different.
People had noticed that acids and bases were different long before
the 1600s. In ancient Greece, people first started to try to classify
substances. These first scientists grouped substances by their tastes.
These tastes included salty, sweet, sour, and bitter. As the years went
by, people began to realize that many substances with similar tastes had
other similar properties as well. For example, sour substances were able
to break down many other substances.

Litmus paper can be used to determine

if a chemical is an acid or a base.

acid base

6
 But it was not until Boyle discovered indicators that scientists were
able to classify certain chemicals into definite groups of acids and bases.
Boyle used vegetable juices and other substances from plants as his
indicators. One indicator he used was litmus, a dye that is made from
lichen. Acid turns blue litmus paper red, and bases turn red litmus
paper blue.
Boyle found other indicators that show how strong an acid or a base
is. For example, the extracts from red cabbage turn red in the presence
of a strong acid. They turn yellow in the presence of a mild acid. They
turn green in the presence of a mild base, and they turn blue in the
presence of a strong base. In other words, red cabbage extracts not only
show whether a chemical is an acid or a base but also allow the tester to
know how strong the acid or base is. These types of indicators are very
useful. For example, indicators like these are used to test the acidity of
swimming pools.

You can use test kits like this one

to test your swimming pool for
acids and bases.

CXENL07ARD411_ALR.indd 7 9/18/06 3:21:41 PM

 The pH Scale
Indicators were used to make the first pH scale. The pH of a
substance is the measure of how acidic or basic the substance is. On the
pH scale, something that is a 1 is very acidic. Something that is a 6 is a
very weak acid. Seven on the pH scale is neutral. This means that the

The pH Scale
tomatoes,
4.2

Increasing in acidity
Incre

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

lemon juice,
2.3
stomach acid, milk,
1.0 6.4

apple juice,
3.1

battery acid, corn,

1.0 6.2

8 CXENL07A
 substance is neither acidic nor basic. Anything higher than 7 is
a base. Look at the pH scale below to see the pH values of many
familiar substances.

human blood, toothpaste,

7.4 9.9

Increasing in basicity
y

7 8 9 10 11 12
2 13 14
1

lye (used to make soap),

13.0

pure water,
7.0

baking soda, household ammonia cleaner,

8.3 11.9

ARD411_ALR_24T.eps 9
 pH and Food Preparation
You may be wondering now why knowing something’s pH value
is important. Why isn’t it enough to just say something is an acid or
a base? There are many reasons why the pH scale is important. But
perhaps the most important reason for you is that your lunch depends
on it! A food with a too-high or too-low pH value can be toxic. You will
get sick if you eat it. On the other hand, a food with a pH value from
5 to 8 can spoil very quickly because molds, bacteria, and other food-
spoiling organisms grow very quickly in a food with a mild pH value.
These molds and bacteria also can make you very sick if you eat too
many of them.
Do you know someone who has had food poisoning? Most likely he
or she got food poisoning from eating a food that had not been washed
or preserved in the right way. Preserving food means storing it in a way
that keeps molds and bacteria from growing in it. You can preserve food
in many ways. For example, a freezer preserves food by keeping it cold.
Bacteria do not grow quickly in the cold.

Bases can be used

to preserve food,
too. This lutefisk,
a Norwegian fish
dish, has been
preserved with the
base lye, which is a
poison. To make the
fish edible, the lye
must be removed
by soaking the fish
in fresh water until
it is safe to eat.

10
Ingredients: 8 eggs
600 ml white vinegar
Pickling
�
� 1 tsp black peppercorns
� 1 tsp allspice berries
People1 have
tsp roonot always
t ginger (lightlyhad freezers,
bruised) so they used pH to preserve
�
food
Preparaatio long
n: time ago. Vinegar is an acid—it has a pH of around 3.0.
utes. Cool in cold water,
1. Boil the eggs for 10 min
Since ancient times, people
then carefully remove she
lls. have been using vinegar to preserve their
sim me r the vinegar and
food.
2. In This type of food preparation is called pickling. Have you ever
a sau cep an
s.
spices together for 5 minute
eaten a pickle?
3. Place the egg s inIfa so,
war you
me d already
ster ilized know something about pickled food. A
pou r the hot spic ed vine gar
pickle is simply a cucumber that has been soaked in vinegar and spices.
jar and
over them (including spices).
A 4.fresh cucumber
Seal tigh tly and store has
in aacoopH of around 5.5. But, after the cucumber has
l dry
ce. Open afte r 2 we eks .
pla
been soaked in vinegar, its pH drops to around 3.5. This pH value is low
enough to stop bacteria from growing.
Ancient people probably did not know why pickling helped preserve
food. But today scientists know that bacteria cannot grow well in food
with a pH lower than 4.6. Because of this, companies that make canned
foods are careful to keep the pH of their foods at 4.6 or lower.

Pickling CXENL07ARD411_ALR_32T.eps
is fun and easy to do! Try this recipe
for pickled eggs at home with your family.

Ingredients:� 8 eggs
� 600 ml white vinegar
� 1 tsp black peppercorns
� 1 tsp allspice berries
ised)
� 1 tsp root ginger (lightly bru
Preparation:
utes. Cool in cold water,
1. Boil the eggs for 10 min
lls.
then carefully remove she
the vinegar and other
2. In a saucepan simmer
minutes.
ingredients together for 5
ed sterilized
3. Place the eggs in a warm
vinegar
jar and pour the hot spiced
).
over them (including spices
a cool dry
4. Seal tightly and store in
.
place. Open after 2 weeks

11
 Your Tongue and pH Values
Baby food has a very mild pH. Most baby foods have a pH value
of only 5 to 7. Why is this? Remember that your tongue is your own
pH meter. A baby’s tongue is even more sensitive than your tongue.
Because of this, a baby will not eat anything that has a strong sour or
bitter taste. This is an adaptation that helps babies avoid eating any
toxic substances. But as the baby learns which foods are nontoxic and
nutrient-rich, the baby accepts foods with a wider range of pH values.
Take a look at the chart below. It shows the pH values of many
different foods. Which foods do you think a baby would be able to eat?

Acids Bases
Food pH Food pH
Cranberry juice 2.5 Clams 7.1
Ketchup 3.9 Cooked spinach 7.1
Concord grapes 3.0 Tea 7.2
Honey 4.2 Shrimp sauce 7.3
Oranges 4.3 Soda crackers 7.3
Yellow onions 5.6 Peanut soup 7.5
Potatoes 5.9 Ripe olives 7.5
Lettuce 6.2 Frozen corn 7.7
Eggs 6.6 Coconut 7.8
White rice 6.7 Graham crackers 7.9

12
Think and Write
1. What property of acids helps your stomach acid digest food?
2. Carrots have a pH value of 6.4. Are carrots acidic or basic?
Explain your answer, and tell how strongly acidic or basic
carrots are.
3. Expository Writing Do you like foods that are strongly acidic or
basic? If so, write a paragraph in which you name and describe
a food and tell why you like it. If not, tell why you don’t like
foods that are strongly acidic or basic.

Hands-On Activity
Put on safety goggles, an apron, and latex gloves. Fill a small
plastic cup halfway with vinegar. Dip a cotton swab into the
vinegar, and then touch the swab to some red and blue litmus
paper. Record your results. Then crush up an antacid tablet. Stir
the crushed tablet into the vinegar. Dip another cotton swab
into the mixture, and touch it to both litmus papers. Record your
results. Was the antacid a base or an acid? Explain your answer.

School-Home Connection
Point out to an adult family member that strong acids and bases
are able to break down chemicals and dissolve some substances.
With the family member, put a chicken bone in a jar of vinegar
and leave it there for one week. Remove the chicken bone, and
observe how it has changed. What caused these changes?