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Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

joshmadison.com

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Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#21

Post by aninhumer »

saiya-jin wrote: post #20
teekert wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still does not mean it is bad for you. Same holds for vinegar (it's acidic). Vinegar is not bad for you, at least when pored over your salad. In fact, only the dose determines the toxicity, it makes no sense to talk about toxicity with out discussing dose (or LD50 value or something.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_dose_makes_the_poison

yeah, please drink half a litre, or even better 2 litre of vinegar and report back to us how that went. or to reverse it - do you know anybody drinking coke in same amounts as usage of vinegar when pouring over salad?

But do you need half a litre of vinegar to clean a toilet?

Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#22

Post by teekert »

saiya-jin wrote: post #20
teekert wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still does not mean it is bad for you. Same holds for vinegar (it's acidic). Vinegar is not bad for you, at least when pored over your salad. In fact, only the dose determines the toxicity, it makes no sense to talk about toxicity with out discussing dose (or LD50 value or something.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_dose_makes_the_poison

yeah, please drink half a litre, or even better 2 litre of vinegar and report back to us how that went. or to reverse it - do you know anybody drinking coke in same amounts as usage of vinegar when pouring over salad?

I was addressing the toilet cleaning statement. How much do you need to use for that?

But ok, to make break your point I need to provide you with an example of a liquid that cleans the toilet just as well as coke but is healthy while drinking similar amounts. How about lemon juice, diluted to be drinkable without any direct adverse effects on your health and with the same pH as the coke. I'm just guessing but I think it is possible to do that.

Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#23

Post by yitchelle »

adrianN wrote: post #15
buro9 wrote: post #12

Coke will help free a stuck seatpost in a bicycle if the frame is steel and the seat post is aluminium. Just turn the bike upside down, pour some coke down the seat tube, leave to stand overnight, and hit the seat with a mallet the next day.

Hitting stuck things with a mallet is probably a pretty effective way to get them unstuck, independent of the presence of coke.

As they say, increase the size of the hammer if it initial does not work.

Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#24

Post by Broken_Hippo »

pheonikai wrote: post #13
teekert wrote: post #7

"To illustrate that, the email points out that Coke can be used to clean a toilet, help remove a rusty bolt, or remove blood from a highway accident." Yeah well why would anybody believe that if a soda can be used in such ways that it is also bad for you? I mean I flush the toilet with water! With WATER! And it removes most traces of excrement... Arg, it must be bad for you!

Coke is used to clean a toilet and not flush it. To clean a toilet, generally some acid or detergent is needed. Effectiveness of Coke being used for this purpose shows its acidic nature and its ability to dissolve the material on which it is applied.

It can also be used to clean battery terminals among other things.

But then again, vinegar is a fairly common cleaning agent: Baking soda and salt are fairly effective as well. I've used salt and lemon juice to clean tarnish off of copper: Toothpaste to clean the tarnish off of silver jewelry or shine up gold. None of these are viewed as bad or unhealthy in the doses we tend to consume them in. Vegetable oils and waxes are used in industrial applications: Soy can be used as a base for ink and lipstick.

Stomach acid itself is about as strong as battery acid, actually. And this is something your body produces and is necessary.

Basically: There are a great many chemicals that have multiple uses, and are only dangerous when used in sufficient amounts or on specific surfaces.

Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#27

Post by shimon_e »

pheonikai wrote: post #13
teekert wrote: post #7

"To illustrate that, the email points out that Coke can be used to clean a toilet, help remove a rusty bolt, or remove blood from a highway accident." Yeah well why would anybody believe that if a soda can be used in such ways that it is also bad for you? I mean I flush the toilet with water! With WATER! And it removes most traces of excrement... Arg, it must be bad for you!

Coke is used to clean a toilet and not flush it. To clean a toilet, generally some acid or detergent is needed. Effectiveness of Coke being used for this purpose shows its acidic nature and its ability to dissolve the material on which it is applied.

Forget about coke and water! The real danger is dihydrogen monoxide.

Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#28

Post by Broken_Hippo »

saiya-jin wrote: post #20
teekert wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still does not mean it is bad for you. Same holds for vinegar (it's acidic). Vinegar is not bad for you, at least when pored over your salad. In fact, only the dose determines the toxicity, it makes no sense to talk about toxicity with out discussing dose (or LD50 value or something.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_dose_makes_the_poison

yeah, please drink half a litre, or even better 2 litre of vinegar and report back to us how that went. or to reverse it - do you know anybody drinking coke in same amounts as usage of vinegar when pouring over salad?

Most folks couldn't get it down due to the taste.

What folks use over a salad is much more paletable - a sweet tasting weak vinegar + oil, and sometimes a touch of sugar. This doesn't make it any better or worse than sodas, simply different. There are many things we eat that aren't something we can do in really large quantities or things that can also have industrial or cleaning purposes. This doesn't make these dangerous, simply multipurpose depending on amount and strength.

Hell, you can get very sick by drinking too much water - or get too dehydrated - and can die if you try to breath it. Yet, water is pretty necessary and healthy to have.

Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#29

Post by otempomores »

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #24
pheonikai wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coke is used to clean a toilet and not flush it. To clean a toilet, generally some acid or detergent is needed. Effectiveness of Coke being used for this purpose shows its acidic nature and its ability to dissolve the material on which it is applied.

It can also be used to clean battery terminals among other things. But then again, vinegar is a fairly common cleaning agent: Baking soda and salt are fairly effective as well. I've used salt and lemon juice to clean tarnish off of copper: Toothpaste to clean the tarnish off of silver jewelry or shine up gold. None of these are viewed as bad or unhealthy in the doses we tend to consume them in. Vegetable oils and wax…

It always astonnished me that cellular chemistr ca produce this without selfdestruction.

Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#30

Post by titzer »

While coke does contain some phosphoric acid, that's dwarfed by the total amount of carbonic acid (H2CO3, commonly just called carbonation). Flat coke, where most of the carbonic acid has broken down to water and CO2 gas, is significantly less acidic.
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