How come acid doesn’t eat through glass like it does everything else?
In: Chemistry
TLDR: Acid doesnt eat through everything, glass is very inert and not all acids/alkalines damage it, some do tho
First of all, different acids are good at different things. Royal Water for example is a pretty damn aggressive acid (its a mix of hydrochloric and nitric acid, in a 1:3 molar ratio). It eats through pretty much every metal, including noble ones such as gold. Other acids, such as sulfurous (NOT sulfuric!) acid dont dissolve all that much. Sulfurous acid is used as a bleach and disinfectant.
Theres also alkalines, which chemically work the opposite way and also dissolve stuff. Theres also stronger and weaker ones, but we dont need to get into detail here.
All alkalines and acids need to be stored in an appropriate container. Usually thats glass, because its a very inert substance (meaning it doesnt like to react with other chemicals). However some acids/alkalines can eat through glass, they then need a different material, such as certain plastics or ceramics.
The reason glass is so inert is because the silicone – oxygen bond is very strong and most other chemicals simply do not have the attraction needed to break this bond, meaning they cant react.
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