• Question: Is there actually green acid, and, if there is, what is it composed of?

    Asked by to Aimee, Chris, Dave, Greig, Laurence on 16 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Greig Cowan

      Greig Cowan answered on 16 Jun 2014:

      I’m not a chemist or biologist, but I suspect most acid is transparent. However, you can mix it with something else to make it green.

    • Photo: Aimee Hopper

      Aimee Hopper answered on 16 Jun 2014:

      Personally, I dont know… I’d guess that something that is green CAN be acidic (such as an apple). Normally you can determine if something is acidic by using a litmus test, or pH indicator, but acid is normally red – yellow.

    • Photo: Laurence Perreault Levasseur

      Laurence Perreault Levasseur answered on 16 Jun 2014:

      That’s a very good questions! It’s true that in cartoons acid is ALWAYS green, but I never knew why. A quick wikipedia search revealed that there is an acid that is green when it becomes oxidized (that’s a complicated word to mean it loses some electrons in a chemical reaction):
      Chlorogenic acid
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorogenic_acid

      Apparently, it’s an antioxidant (the same as in the food ones, like peaches and prunes) , and it’s found in a lot of plants, like bamboo, and green coffee beans. It also goes into the ingredients of chewing gum (!!).

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