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perchloric acid

perchloric acid

1 9.5
A very strong, reactive acid used in labs and factories to make salts
  • noun
  • /pərˈklɔrɪk ˈæsɪd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : ácido perclórico
  • The laboratory uses perchloric acid to prepare perchlorate salts.

Examples

  • Perchloric acid is used in the production of fertilizers.

  • Spills of perchloric acid can cause dangerous reactions if not cleaned properly.

  • Concentrated perchloric acid must be handled with extreme care due to its highly reactive nature.

  • Many laboratories handle perchloric acid with extreme caution.

  • This is perchloric acid, known for its strong corrosive properties.

  • The chemist carefully handled perchloric acid due to its corrosive nature.

  • Safety gear is essential when working with perchloric acid in any manufacturing process.

How Acidic

perchloric acid
  • Specialized
1 9.5
sulfuric acid
  • Specialized
11 4.2
hydrochloric acid
  • Specialized
6 4.1
phosphoric acid
  • Specialized
1 4.1
acetic acid
  • Specialized
4.2

Surface Forms

Morphology

perchloric + acid

The phrase is compositionally an adjective + noun (an acid that is perchloric), so the basic idea 'a type of acid' is derivable from the constituents. However, 'perchloric' is a technical, specialised chemical term and the specific properties (very strong, highly corrosive, powerful oxidizer) are not predictable from general knowledge of the words by a B1 learner without domain knowledge. Therefore the structure is partly transparent but requires specialised knowledge to recover the full meaning.

Etymology

Perchloric acid gets its name from the prefix per- meaning 'more' and chloric meaning 'from chlorine'. Think of a family of chlorine acids: the one with the most oxygen was called perchloric, and that name points to the fact it is a very strong, dangerous acid today.