Tag: Chemistry facts

Approximately 360 grams of table salt can be dissolved in one liter of water at room temperature, but only up to a point. This represents the scientific limit to how much you can salt water, and understanding what happens beyond this threshold is crucial for chemists and chefs alike.

A substance's acidity or alkalinity is measured on the pH scale, where values greater than 7 indicate low acidity. The answer to what has the lowest acidity lies at the extreme end of this scale, among the most powerful bases.

While some products, like certain instant coffees, carry the brand name "Gold," the simple answer to the question "is real gold caffeinated?" is no. A chemical compound called caffeine is responsible for the stimulating effects in coffee, tea, and other plants, while gold is a chemically inert elemental metal. This widespread misconception is easily debunked by understanding the fundamental properties of these two substances.

In 1834, English scientist Michael Faraday first coined the term "electrolyte," defining it as a substance that conducts electricity when dissolved in water. The creation and full understanding of what constitutes electrolytes, however, evolved over decades through the work of several pioneering scientists who built upon his initial findings.

Fact: The highest commercially available ethanol is not 100%, and even a lab-prepared absolute ethanol cannot stay perfectly pure. This leads many to question, is any alcohol 100 percent? The answer is a surprising and definitive no, due to fundamental chemical properties.

By mass, iron is the most common element on Earth, but its chemical symbol, Fe, is derived not from its English name but from its ancient Latin counterpart. This reveals a common confusion: is ferrum a iron? Yes, they are the same element, with "ferrum" being the Latin word for iron, providing a glimpse into the history of chemical nomenclature.