Molar-ity - A Small Lesson in Chemistry
I don't know if this has been studied in any peer review journals, but drawing from my knowledge of science, it seems that this would work.
After you drink a soda/pop/high fructose corn syrup infused carbonated phosphoric acid beverage, whatever your chosen vernacular, swish your mouth with water a couple of times - hell, drink a full glass of water, swishing as you go.
Why, you ask? Well, my friend, read on! I'll try not to make this too complex - you have my apologies if I do. I don't know the scientific knowledge of my readership either, so if I sound condescending, than I am sorry.
Phosphoric acid, which is the main acid in most dark pops, is highly acidic; we're talking a pH of 1-2.5 - think battery acid. Yes, you may not consider it when you drink it, pop is acid - that in and of itself is hard to wrap your mind around sometimes - millions of people drink highly sugared acid as a treat.
Now, acid is present as free radical hydrogen molecules in an aqueous solution - the more hydrogens, the more acidic the solution (the chemical equation for phosphoric acid is H3PO4, although the amount of oxidation [loss of hydrogen] varies in solution, you can see that the chemical has 3 potential acid hydrogens). Molarity in a chemical solution is the concentration of molecules of a given chemical in that solution. High molarity of phosphoric acid means that there's fewer water molecules and more chemical molecules, in our case with pop, we have high concentration of phosphoric acid molecules relative to the amount of water and other constituents of saliva.
I don't have a can of pop in front of me, but I know that the main ingredient is water, so one, maybe two, of those hydrogens per phosphoric acid molecule are floating around in there. When you drink pop, however, the higher molarity of acid in pop changes the pH of your saliva, effectively turning your mouth acidic (more so). If you drink some water after you finish the pop (dentist tip: every time you sip, it takes 20 minutes for your body to bring your oral pH to equilibrium - thanks, Dr. Wintheiser), the molarity of your newly acidic mouth, I postulate, should drop dramatically, and while the pH of your mouth will still be low, your body can more easily tune the pH back to its normal level.
Unfortunately, I can't think of what to do about the sugar. Sugar is also the big enemy in tooth decay. The bacteria in your mouth use it to make acid to dissolve your enamel, leading to cavities. You may suggest drinking sugar free pop to get around it, and that's fine, but I prefer to veer away from aspartame and other man-made chemicals as much as possible.
So there you have it a somewhat quick lesson in chemistry. Hope it didn't read like a Ben Stein lecture.
After you drink a soda/pop/high fructose corn syrup infused carbonated phosphoric acid beverage, whatever your chosen vernacular, swish your mouth with water a couple of times - hell, drink a full glass of water, swishing as you go.
Why, you ask? Well, my friend, read on! I'll try not to make this too complex - you have my apologies if I do. I don't know the scientific knowledge of my readership either, so if I sound condescending, than I am sorry.
Phosphoric acid, which is the main acid in most dark pops, is highly acidic; we're talking a pH of 1-2.5 - think battery acid. Yes, you may not consider it when you drink it, pop is acid - that in and of itself is hard to wrap your mind around sometimes - millions of people drink highly sugared acid as a treat.
Now, acid is present as free radical hydrogen molecules in an aqueous solution - the more hydrogens, the more acidic the solution (the chemical equation for phosphoric acid is H3PO4, although the amount of oxidation [loss of hydrogen] varies in solution, you can see that the chemical has 3 potential acid hydrogens). Molarity in a chemical solution is the concentration of molecules of a given chemical in that solution. High molarity of phosphoric acid means that there's fewer water molecules and more chemical molecules, in our case with pop, we have high concentration of phosphoric acid molecules relative to the amount of water and other constituents of saliva.
I don't have a can of pop in front of me, but I know that the main ingredient is water, so one, maybe two, of those hydrogens per phosphoric acid molecule are floating around in there. When you drink pop, however, the higher molarity of acid in pop changes the pH of your saliva, effectively turning your mouth acidic (more so). If you drink some water after you finish the pop (dentist tip: every time you sip, it takes 20 minutes for your body to bring your oral pH to equilibrium - thanks, Dr. Wintheiser), the molarity of your newly acidic mouth, I postulate, should drop dramatically, and while the pH of your mouth will still be low, your body can more easily tune the pH back to its normal level.
Unfortunately, I can't think of what to do about the sugar. Sugar is also the big enemy in tooth decay. The bacteria in your mouth use it to make acid to dissolve your enamel, leading to cavities. You may suggest drinking sugar free pop to get around it, and that's fine, but I prefer to veer away from aspartame and other man-made chemicals as much as possible.
So there you have it a somewhat quick lesson in chemistry. Hope it didn't read like a Ben Stein lecture.
posted by P-Wagz at 3:11 PM
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