Chemical Properties
Formic acid has a pungent and penetrating odor along with it be a colorless liguid. "It is miscible with alcohol ether, glycerol, ethyl acetate, methanol, and water. It is very soluble in acetone. It is incompatible or reactive with strong oxidizers, strong caustics, and concentrated sulfuric acid. Also it is corrosive to metals. It is a strong reducing agent, and may act both as an acid and as an aldehyde because the carboxyl is bound to a hydrogen rather than an alkyl group. Synonyms for formic acid are hydrogencarboxylic acid, and methanoic acid."(nsc.org)
Percent Composition
carbon 1*12=12u
2hydrogen 2*1=2u
2oxygen 2*16=32u
12+2+32=46u
Percentage of carbon 12u/46u*100=26.1%
Percentage of hydrogen 2u/46u*100=4.3%
Percentage of oxygen 32u/46u*100=70%
Thus, a 100g sample of formic acid would contain
26.1g of carbon,4.3g of hydrogen, and 70g og oxygen.
By: Benjamin Martinez, Ryan O'connell, Andy McConkey
Web Sites On Formic Acid
nsc.org, formic acid chemical backgrounder, Url: http://www.nsc.org/library/chemical/FormicAc.htm, 27 Sep 2004
Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Formic acid, Url: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/formic_acid, 4 Oct 2004
Mr. bogue
History
Production
