Potassium hydroxide, 2022

Kaliumhydroxid

Potassium hydroxide. This molecule is built of one potassium atom, one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom. This chemical is often being used in some of the cleaning fluids and it is a very prototypical strong base. This molecule is great at heavy cleaning, reacts well with fats and is a hydrophile, so it will be moved away effectively from the surfaces when the time is right (when the cleaning staff decides to). This strong base is poisonous and can make you lose your eyesight. Powders are a bigger threat to the health because you can accidentally breath in the chemical. Potassium hydroxide is not flammable.

Potassium Hydroxide’s chemical structure

From the beginning we had one potassium ion with a positive charge, K+, and we also had one hydroxy ion with a negative charge, OH-. When those reacted, we got the new chemical compound potassium hydroxide, that is a strong alkaline product that is held together with ionic bonding. In a bonding like that one metal and one nonmetal meet, and simultaneous-ly the polarity of the molecule or the atom is high (separation in a plus-pole and a minus-pole is always there). Potassium hydroxide also has a higher boiling point, because ionic bonding were electron transference occurred is stronger.

(Potassium oxide) K2O + H2O ---> 2 KOH

If you want to make potassium hydroxide, then you mix potassium oxide with water. That first mentioned base may be toxic when you ingest it, and it is irritating for example for the skin, when handling it. If you mix potassium oxide with water then the pH rises thanks to that you get more hydroxyl ions, OH-, in the liquid. It’s the water that is amphoteric, and in different solutions it will act as a base and in others as a acidic element. Drain cleaners consist of approximately 30% potassium hydroxide, but this chemical is also used for prod-uction of new compounds, like metals used for the industry:

FeSO4 + 2 KOH ---> Fe(OH)2 (solid, for industry) + K2SO4