Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003) • Hacker News Board

Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#81

Post by Broken_Hippo » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 2:33 PM UTC

lmm wrote: post #58

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> 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. Absolutely, but I'd be worried about someone who chugged any of those things in the sam…

Quantities matter, naturally. I'd worry about them as well, honestly. Especially if they were eating tubes of fluoride toothpaste. Luckily they are usually just ingredients in stuff, just like the chemicals in coke.

Vinegar might be somewhat of an exception - especially apple cider vinegar. Folks use it for a natural cure, some folks drinking a glass multiple times a day. I'm personally suspicious and it seems in these sorts of amounts it isn't the safest thing for folks [1]. Again, quantities, preparation, and dosages matter.

[1] http://www.livestrong.com/article/494866-recommended-amount-...

Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#82

Post by coldtea » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 2:33 PM UTC

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?

>yeah, please drink half a litre, or even better 2 litre of vinegar and report back to us how that went.

And what is that supposed to prove?

People regularly drink "half a litre" or 2lt of Coke and report back just fine.

The main reason not to drink half a littre of vinegar is its taste and extra acidity.

If it had the same acidity as Coke AND better taste it would be fine to drink.

Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#83

Post by Broken_Hippo » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 2:35 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #79

lmm wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. Absolutely, but I'd be worried about someone who chugged any of those things in the sam…

Coke is 89% water (from the other % most is sugar). Not really comparable to consuming 2 cans of salt, baking soda, toothpaste, etc. And would you really be worried for people drinking several cans of lemon juice per day?

Straight lemon juice in those quantities is actually bad for the teeth. As in, my sister used to eat lemons like oranges and quit because of that.

The most apt comparison with lemon juice to coke would be lemonade, though. And some folks do drink quite a bit of that.

Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#84

Post by hiddenkrypt » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 2:42 PM UTC

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?

Well, since you're asking for anecdotal evidence...

Lemon juice has a pH of about 2, while most colas are more Alkaline at around 2.5. My mom eats lemons raw nearly every day. Sometimes limes (pH ~2.2).

Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#85

Post by hiddenkrypt » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 2:46 PM UTC

pionar wrote: post #10

When I was a kid, I remember my dad once cleaning corrosion off car battery terminals with Coke. That + a wire brush. It did much better than just water + wire brush.

I use baking soda. On old batteries there's sometimes a little bit of acid leaking out around the terminals, and the base counteracts it. It's also a great abrasive, and washes away with water.

Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#86

Post by ch4s3 » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 2:46 PM UTC

saiya-jin wrote: post #64

RankingMember wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually drank a little more than .5 liter of white vinegar as part of some experimentation with those "miracle fruit" tablets ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synsepalum_dulcificum ). Other than a few minutes of burping, I experienced no ill effects. Edit: Ok, wanted to make a correction after thinking more about that day: My consumed amount was likely around half that. I was consuming various other oddities during…

wow OK, I stand corrected. I always, wrongly assumed that more than tiny amount would make digestive system go crazy and probably cause vomit or other unpleasant consequences

nah, you stomach is already full of a way stronger acid.

Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#87

Post by S_A_P » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 2:49 PM UTC

There are acidic things considered healthy that people eat all the time. The problem with Coke and any other soda is the massive quantities of sugar, which has been proven bad for you.

Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#88

Post by hiddenkrypt » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 2:53 PM UTC

varjag wrote: post #74

Elrac wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most nails are made of steel. Aluminum, copper, brass, bronze, stainless steel, nickel silver, monel, zinc, and iron are also used. Galvanized nails are coated with zinc to give them added corrosion resistance. Blued steel nails are subjected to a flame to give them a bluish oxide finish that provides a certain amount of corrosion resistance. So-called cement-coated nails are actually coated with a plastic resin to i…

But no mention of keratin nails! What a woefully incomplete reference :) Still unclear what is meant by "iron". I mean, low carbon steel is iron with some trace impurities. Cast iron? Nails aren't cast, besides it's brittle and less prone to rust than low carbon steel.

Usually wrought iron, not cast iron. I have a blacksmith friend who made a large amount of iron nails when he was starting the trade, since it was good practice. He still makes them in demonstrations at Ren Faires. They're still used occasionally for horseshoes apparently, though that market from what I know has been using more and more mass-produced steel instead.

Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#89

Post by lmm » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 2:59 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #79

lmm wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. Absolutely, but I'd be worried about someone who chugged any of those things in the sam…

Coke is 89% water (from the other % most is sugar). Not really comparable to consuming 2 cans of salt, baking soda, toothpaste, etc. And would you really be worried for people drinking several cans of lemon juice per day?

> And would you really be worried for people drinking several cans of lemon juice per day?

Yes, absolutely. It's pretty damaging to teeth if consumed regularly, AIUI.

(Personal experience: I once started drinking a few glasses of orange juice (weaker than lemon) daily, within a year I needed four fillings. Stopped drinking it immediately afterwards, haven't needed fillings before or since).

Re: Will Coke Dissolve a Nail? (2003)

#90

Post by imgabe » Wed, Sep 21, 2016, 3:04 PM UTC

Were the keratin nails in the same container as the steel nails? What if one provided a prophylactic effect preventing the other from being dissolved?! Rerun the experiment! 18 jars this time!