How To Find Out The Citric Acid Chemical Formula?
Citric acid is one of the weakest acids present in the fruits, in plants around us, and even animals can be seen having a small amount of it present in their bodies. In processed food, manufacturers add artificial Citric acid to preserve the food.
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(Citric acid’s 3D model)
When it comes to finding out how Citric acid has been made, you need to know it comes from a family of carboxylic acids. The Citric acid IUPAC name is 2-hydroxypropane-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid.
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The Acetyl CoA and oxaloacetic acid are condensed together to form Citric Acid. In addition to this, at the Ketone carbon, the acetyl group CH3COO is transferred to oxaloacetic acid from
CoA by the chemical reaction.
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(From this reaction, Citric acid is formed in the human body.)
This reaction aims to make 2 carbon atoms hitch with 4 carbon atoms, which results in forming the acid that has 6 carbon atoms present in it. This process is called the synthesis of acid.
What is The Formula of Citric Acid and Why is it Important?
Citric acid contains 6 carbon atoms along with 8 hydrogen atoms. At the same time, you can find 7 oxygen atoms present in it. It may sound complicated, but it is not that hard to define its chemical formula once you know all ratios of different elements present in it.
From the above ratios, we define the chemical formula of Citric acid, and that is C6H8O7. In case you want to find out the extended formula of Citric acid CH2 COOH – COHCOOH-CH2COOH. Citric acid plays a vital role in generating energy in the human body and keeping the biosynthesis reaction running in the human body. In addition to this, Citric acid also works as a sugar breaker in glycolysis and provides energy for ATP production in the process.
Citric Acid Properties in Terms of Chemistry
Citric acid has been used in many things that humans regularly consume, so it is necessary to know about its different properties and how they are helpful to us. Starting with the Citric acid chemical name, we have C₆H₈O₇, where (C) represents Carbon, (H) represents Hydrogen, and (O) represents Oxygen.
The chemical formula is essential as it gives us the necessary information that we need about the chemical substances used and how much quantity of each element is present in the given compound.
The Citric acid molecular weight is 192.124 g/mol, where (g) represents gram, and (mol) means mole. If a given compound or chemical has more molecular weight, its mechanical properties will increase in proportion.
The Citric acid structural formula is the same as its chemical formula, which is C₆H₈O₇. At the same time, the Citric acid molecular formula is CH2COOH-C(OH)COOH- CH2COOH. There are many synonyms of Citric acid, such as 2-hydroxypropane-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid, Anhydrous, and Anhydrous citric acid.
Citric Acid Usage in Daily Lives
Now let us talk about where we are using it in our daily lives and how Citric acid makes our lives better.
We have already said that Citric acid is used in preserving food for a long time and many canned food products have a white layer of Citric acid to keep them fresh in a can for longer.
Moreover, some ice cream manufacturers prefer using Citric acid as their emulsifier to keep the fat globules away.
Household cleaning products such as Colin and dish cleaner soap contain some amount of Citric acid to remove stains from the glass decoration and kitchen utensils easily.
Likewise, Citric acid is a natural option for the hard water treatment process as it breaks down the trace quantities of metal, which can be found in water, making it unsuitable for cleaning clothes.
For leather tanning and electroplating, citric acid is used.
On the other hand, this acid is also used in the process of storing blood in hospitals. It can be used as a buffer and antioxidant when it comes to manufacturing pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.
FAQs on Citric Acid Formula
1. Where do we use Citric Acid in our daily lives?
Answer: Citric acid is one of the acids which can be found in nature. You can find it in several fruits and vegetables. Lemon contains the highest amount of Citric acid. Citric acid has been used to preserve food for a long time since ancient times when there were no freezers. In addition to this, candies use citric acid's sourness to add a unique flavour.
You might have seen a white coating on sour candies; well, that's a citric acid layer covering up the candy. For keeping your clothes clean and smell good, every detergent company uses Citric acid in their formula. Moreover, the Citric acid present in detergent makes water soften up for better cleaning. These are some of the ways through which Citric acid is used in our daily lives.
2. Can we consume Citric Acid? Is it good for our health?
Answer: The presence of Citric acid can be felt everywhere, from food to medicines, to supplements. It can be found both naturally and artificially using a type of mold. On the other hand, citric acid provides some of the essential benefits which the human body needs to function properly.
For the human body to convert food into usable energy, it needs two chemical processes: the citric acid cycle and the Krebs cycle. Both these processes require citric acid to complete the reaction and produce energy for the body.
Citric acid also helps in accelerating the metabolism as well as absorption of minerals and prevents the formation of stones in the kidneys, while breaking the existing stones into smaller chunks.
