What are the effects of acid and how does it work? (chemistry, not drug related)

Factual Questions
21

A super acid is defined as an acid with a pKa less than -12. The pKa of sulfuric acid is -12. So a super acid is also defined as any acid stronger than sulfuric. Paratoluenesulfonic acid has a pKa of -2.8. It’s not even terribly strong as far as acids go.

22

Missed the edit window.

ETA: My mistake. It looks like the pKa of sulfuric is -3. The difference is the solvent that my table is in. -3 is still less than -2.8 so sulfuric acid is still a stronger acid. I’ll have to look back at my table in March to see what solvent the -12 is in.

23

The linked thread is excellent. The only thing I’d add (and this is dimly-remembered high school chemistry, so take it for what little it’s worth) is that HF exposure is not merely life-threatening. It’s also unusually painful - calcium gets leached from your nerves as well as bones, apparently. This can be an agonizing way to die.

24

I don’t mean to make light of the stuff. It’s hazardous. But it’s not like a little splash is gonna eat your hand off before you can get to a nearby sink.

Lye OTOH scares the crap outta me. I’ve never had a need to work with the scary stuff the chemistry pros are talking about upthread. Nor would I want to.

25

After looking at my super acid book, I see that my pKa of sulfuric acid was actually the Hammett acidity function. The Hammett acidity function is what chemists use when pKa is no longer meaningful. This is because the reactivity of the protons is much higher than their ionozation would indicate. The -3.0 pKa for sulfuric acid is the pKa in water, but concentrated sulfuric acid is only 3% water. The Hammett acidity function of concentrated sulfuric acid is between 9 and 10, and I get that by extrapolating the curve from H2SO4/SO3 backwards. H2SO4/SO3 incidentally, is fuming sulfuric acid. Think of it as greater than 100% sulfuric acid. That is some nasty stuff if you ever have the misfortune to work with it.

26

Aside to Lazlow: Did you ever find out for sure what the wet spot was? Presumably the cleanup team tested it.

27

I think you’d be a little the worse for wear if you drank concentrated acetic acid.