I think that’s a bit of an overgeneralization. Bitter taste is evolutionarily a way of detecting particular toxic compounds. Most of them happen to be mildly alkaline, but there’s no general link between higher pH and bitterness.
and Vitamin C is Ascorbic acid.
HF causes damage through an interesting effect.
It preferentially binds with Calcium ions, which kills the cells it comes in contact with. It doesn’t dissolve skin or denature proteins, and so it can cause damage through skin absorption, and one won’t know that exposure has occurred until the damage is already done.
It’s very nasty stuff, and one of the few chemicals I am very, very vary of.
HF is readily available as a rust remover. So, if that’s a household chemical in your household, you may wish to read the label.
I’ve heard of HF being used to treat cavities outside the normal dental practice. In other words - I have heard, but can not confirm, that Survivalist types who don’t trust dentists will use HF to attempt to self-treat their cavities. Apparently, the logic is that it’ll kill all of the cavity causing critters while etching the tooth only slightly.
Personally, I just use toothpaste. But, that’s just me. Your mileage may vary.
Oh, and by the way, I have had chemical-induced pneumonia from exposure to HCl fumes. So, don’t think that it’s safe. Don’t go rubbing it on your bodies. Don’t drink it or try to use it in confined spaces. It’s a chemical. It won’t respect you.
Reminds me of that poem …
My uncle was a chemist
But he is no more.
What he thought was H2O
Was H2SO4.
H2SO4 being the formula for Sulfuric Acid.
Blood, saliva and bile are all (mildly) basic, so it’s not as though high pH itself is a problem.
The “amino” stands for a kind of base, though.
The acid group is more acidic than the amino group is basic, so most amino acids are very weakly acidic. Some of them are moderately acidic though and some are moderately or weakly basic, depending on what other ‘groups’ they have attached to the basic structure.
This is a bad idea. Taste is not a good indicator of toxicity. Some extremely poisonous plants (hemlock, yew) are reportedly delicious.
On a darker note, is there a reason why acid attack victims are attacked with acids and not bases? I believe that sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid are equal opposites on the pH scale (from my crude knowledge of Chemistry), so would it not be cheaper for criminals to use the former?
It even dissolves quartz (the material, not the poster), which aqua regia won’t. But not because of the acidity: the part that’s corrosive is the anion F[sup]-[/sup]. The qualitative analysis for F[sup]-[/sup] involves checking if a vase made of quartz gets attacked by the solution that’s suspected of containing it.
The toxicity of an acid generally has nothing to do with its acidity; it’s “the other bit” (the anion) that’s toxic or is not, and while a very low pH is corrosive, some anions are corrosive as well and through a different mechanism than the pH.