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Glite Dictionary
🧼 A bleaching agent 🦠 A germ killer
hypochlorous acid

hypochlorous acid

8.6
A weak unstable acid used to bleach and disinfect water and clothes
  • noun
  • /ˌhaɪpoʊˈklɔːrəs ˈæsɪd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : ácido hipocloroso
  • Hypochlorous acid is responsible for the bleaching effect of chlorine in laundry detergents.

Examples

  • The disinfectant properties of hypochlorous acid are used in water treatment plants.

  • In swimming pools, hypochlorous acid helps to eliminate harmful bacteria and maintain clean water.

  • Exposure to sunlight can rapidly break down hypochlorous acid in solution.

  • The solution contains hypochlorous acid as its active ingredient.

  • Can hypochlorous acid be used safely on skin?

  • Hypochlorous acid is commonly used as a disinfectant due to its strong oxidizing properties.

  • The laboratory prepared hypochlorous acid for experiments involving oxidative reactions.

Surface Forms

hypochlorous acid singular
hypochlorous acids plural

Morphology

hypochlorous + acid

This is a straightforward adjective+noun composition: 'hypochlorous' describes a chlorine-related chemical quality and 'acid' names the class of substance, so together they denote an acid with hypochlorous properties (HOCl). While the full biomedical specifics (e.g., production by neutrophils) are technical, the basic meaning as a chlorine-derived acid is directly derivable from the constituents and is cross-linguistically transparent.

Etymology

Hypochlorous acid gets its name from parts: hypo- meaning 'less' and chlorous from 'chlorine', the green chemical used for cleaning. So hypochlorous acid is the 'less strong' chlorine acid, which is why it works as a mild 'bleach' that helps remove stains and breaks down easily in water and sunlight.