Tuesday, May 3, 2016

The World's Most Volatile Chemicals; Comparing PH to Mag. (Chemistry meets Astronomy)

First, let's start off with the most potent acid ever known to man: Rated as over 30 units below zero on the PH scale. This makes it 10^31st power worse than the acid found in our stomach. When it comes to bases, the most powerful are replaced every year, as new substances are discovered. So, here's an interesting question for you: If you wanted to dilute this acid, so that it would become so close to neutral as to no more be able to taste it, how many PPM of this acid would you need to dilute in water?! Or, put another way, if you had a drop of it, how much water would you need?! Well, that question I am not really sure of, although for some reason, to me it seems incredibly intriguing.
Now, let me go off topic here for a little bit. I seriously doubt that this would relate at all to this topic, however I am very compelled to think about Magnitude as it relates to stars. Because the scale shares so much in common with the PH scale. So, I was wondering, could we imagine PH of a substance, by simply comparing it to how bright stars are? In that case, a mag. 7 star would be neutral (which is right around the limit of human vision), while planets are usually about a few magnitudes bright.
The PH Scale Can Be Compared To Magnitude of Stars?! (Analogy)

Meanwhile, Wouldn't you agree? So although we might not know for sure without researching, now we'll move to another part of the spectrum: Capsaicin, the Spicy. As some of us may know, this is one astonishingly volatile substance; however, what you may no know, is that their is yet another substance which is akin to that of Capsaicin. However, this substance would make any spicy chile just a mere walk in the park. Because this chemical in particular is far, FAR worse than Capsaicin. Just how volatile is it? Well, for the record, first of all this chemical that I'm about to write down has been used as a nontraditional painkiller, on some occasions, especially by veterinarians. But why "nontraditional?", you might ask? Unlike many other painkillers, including Heroin, this one in particular is permanent, lasting for a lifetime, literally! In order to dilute this chemical that's called Resiniferatoxin so as to make it neutral, one would need to use at least an olympic sized swimming pool full of water for a drop of the chemical. This chemical comes from plants! Supposedly, this toxin is roughly one thousand times more potent than that of Capsaicin itself, although not all of it would be able to bind to the heat receptors of a person. According to Wikipedia, "Resiniferatoxin is toxic and can inflict a chemical burning sensation in microscopic quantities. The primary action of resiniferatoxin is to activate sensory neurons responsible for the perception of pain. It is currently the most potent TRPV1 agonist known to science, with ~500x higher binding affinity for TRPV1 than capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot chili peppers such as those produced by Capsicum annuum. Animal experiments suggest that, in humans, ingestion of 10 g may be fatal or cause serious damage to health.[9] It causes severe burning pain in sub-microgram (1/1,000,000th of a gram) quantities when ingested orally." I was truly intrigued by the very fact that there is an "antidote" for capsaicin! But wait jut a second. Because in order to obtain a chemical that's "warmer" than capsaicin, you would not even have to resort to a chemical such as Resiniferatoxin. In fact, you could just obtain a chemical that is perhaps far easier to get a hold of as opposed to capsaicin. That chemical is called Citric Acid. Mix it with something spicy, and there. Now, I have to wonder, whether or not there will there will ever be a mint to minimize, (or perhaps eliminate!) the effect of heat?

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