We can find acids and bases in every supermarket, some of them in our food, others in cleaning agents. In everyday products, acids and bases as well as acidic and alkaline reacting salts have extremely different functions. In food, acids are either present or added as flavouring agents such as citric acid, tartaric acid and acetic acid, as antioxidants such as ascorbic acid or generally as acidifiers, sequestrants (citric acid and tartaric acid) and preservatives (acetic acid).
In baking powder acidic salts (phosphates or tartar) react with soda as a raising agent – by means of a chemical reaction, carbon dioxide is formed as a gas. The film shows where we find acids and bases in our everyday life and what functions they have. The acid-base theory of the physico-chemist Arrhenius is explained just as Brønsted’s definition. Simple and interesting experiments encourage the pupils to perform their own tests.
The comprehensive accompanying material includes information for further or in-depth discussion of the subject of acids and bases at school. The DVD was compiled in cooperation with the well-known professor of chemistry Georg Schwedt.
