Top 10 acids facts

Fluoroantimonic acid is an ionic liquid created by reacting hydrogen fluoride with antimony pentafluoride in stoichiometrically equivalent amounts. The 1:1 combination forms the strongest known superacid, 10^16 (10 quadrillion) times stronger than 100% sulfuric acid.

It is essential for functioning. Nicotinic acid, better known as niacin or vitamin B3, has nothing in common with tobacco. Chronic lack of niacin leads to pellagra, a vitamin deficiency disease.

Sulfuric acid. The most important gas which leads to acidification is sulfur dioxide, coming from fossil fuel combustion and industry (and, in lesser amounts, from volcanoes and wildfires). In recent years, emissions of nitrogen oxides which are oxidized to form nitric acid are of increasing importance due to stricter controls on emissions of sulfur containing compounds.

It depends on the temperature. Pure water is about 7 at 25 °C; this value decreases with increasing temperatures. At 50 °C, it is 6.55. It is also worth to note, that water that has been exposed to air is mildly acidic, because it absorbs carbon dioxide from the air.

Nitric acid is the primary reagent used for nitration - the addition of a nitro group. Nitration reactions are notably used for the production of explosives, for example synthesis of nitroglycerine, the conversion of guanidine to nitroguanidine and the conversion of toluene to trinitrotoluene (TNT).

Fertilizers production. World production of sulfuric acid in 2004 was about 180 million tonnes. About 60% of this amount is consumed for fertilizers, particularly superphosphates, ammonium phosphate and ammonium sulfates. Similarily, 75–80% of the 26M tons of nitric acid produced annually is used to produce ammonium nitrate fertilizer.

Plastic. Hydrofluoric acid is a precursor to almost all fluorine compounds, including: fluoxetine (Prozac), PTFE (Teflon).It is a colourless solution that is highly corrosive, capable of dissolving many materials, especially oxides. Because of its high reactivity toward glass and moderate reactivity toward many metals, hydrofluoric acid is usually stored in plastic containers.

Malic acid is more sour than citric acid, and is the source of extreme tartness in so-called extreme candy. Malic acid occurs naturally in all fruits and many vegetables.

HClO4. With the same central atom, acid strength increases as the number of oxygens attached to it increases, so perchloric acid (HClO4) is the strongest.

HCOOH. It is a formic acid formula.