On Jan 27, 2009, at 1:59 PM, Ronald Parker wrote: > Hi Fibernetters. I would like to inject a little elementary chemistry > into the lime with betel nuts discussion. > > First off, the lime chewed along with betel nuts isn't the green little > fruit. Such limes are acid from the citric acid in them. The chewers > of betel nuts want an alkaline additive to release the "narcotic" > elements in the nuts. > > OK, lime once over time..... Abbreviations are Calcium Ca, Carbon C, > and Oxygen O. > > In old fashioned chemical terms lime is a compound made of one atom of > calcium and one of oxygen or multiples thereof. CaO is the chemical > formula for it. It is made by heating limestone, coral, seashells, or > other materials made of one atom of calcium, one of carbon and three of > oxygen - CaC3O3. aka Ca(CO)3 A product from heating Ca(CO)3 to drive
Oops. limestone is CaCO3, not the 2 bad formulas in the line above. > off the CO2 (carbon dioxide gas) is called burnt lime or quick lime. It > is strongly alkaline, and will burn the skin. It us used to dissolve > flesh to destroy dead animals in places like municipal dumps. You > would not want to chew it along with a betel nut - to say the least. > > CaO will react readily with water to give slaked lime The CaO and > water (H2O) combine to give Ca(OH)2. This is the stuff used to make > whitewash and sometimes sprinkled of straw bedding in barns. It is the > kind of "lime" the betel chewers prefer. It creates an alkaline saliva > to help release the active drug in the nuts. Very little is used. > Seemingly, even plain CaCO3 can be used if the slaked lime isn't > available > > Some fibers, such as wool can be damaged by alkaline solutions, so > beware and test a small sample. > > Confused? I hope not. > > > Ron Parker - Fibernet list mom with Susanne > rbpar...@swipnet.se > > > ------------------------------------ > > A message archive and photo page are maintained. Commercial selling > and spam are not allowed. Members are allowed to offer personal items > for giving away or selling. See > <http://hem.bredband.net/ronpar/fninfo.html> for more details. > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > Ron rbpar...@swipnet.se
