What Are the Uses of Ionic Compounds in Daily Life?

Have you ever asked yourself about the uses of ionic compounds in daily life? Ions make up everything that's around us, including the air we breathe, the water we drink, and even the technology that lets us read this article right now! Here are some everyday application of ionic compounds, and examples of them in our lives every day.

Uses of Ionic Compounds in Daily Life: Seasoning

Sodium chloride, otherwise known as table salt, is a typical example of ionic compounds. By adding salt to your food at dinnertime, you're increasing its total ion concentration, giving it a salinity that our taste buds can pick up on. This increases overall flavor in many dishes; plus, it helps meat and vegetables retain their moisture throughout cooking.

Toothpaste Production

Toothpaste is a very common product that contains an ionic compound. That means one of the uses of ionic compounds in daily life is making toothpaste. Toothpaste's active ingredient, fluoride, is a highly effective cavity-fighter and a safe one at that. Fluoride has become such an accepted part of our daily oral health routine that we forget just how essential it is to maintaining healthy teeth and gums.

Shampoo

We all use shampoo, whether we're washing our hair or cleaning our dishes. However, most people don't think about what goes into that bottle and whether it poses any real risks to their health. Many shampoos and soaps contain harmful ingredients like detergents and chemicals, which can pose a serious threat to your health if you aren't careful about what you're using. Most shampoo-making industries apply ionic compounds to produce quality shampoos.

Facial Scrubs

Since all you need is table salt and water to make a scrub, many people like to use these as an alternative to harsh, expensive beauty products. Rubbing a mixture of half table salt and half water on your face with your hands will help exfoliate dead skin cells, leaving you with a clear complexion. Make sure not to mix up sea salt (which is too abrasive) with regular table salt! A little baking soda in your scrub can also help restore pH balance while exfoliating.

Uses of Ionic Compounds in Daily Life: Hand Sanitizer

If you're out and about, sometimes it's hard to keep your hands clean. Sure, you could always stop at a sink, but who wants to wait that long? Using hand sanitizer is a quick way to get rid of germs on-the-go. Make sure you use alcohol-based sanitizers; they have much better germicidal properties than chemical ones. There are various uses of ionic compounds in daily life, such as making hand sanitizers.

Deodorant

With a bit of chemistry know-how, you can make your own deodorant with ionic compounds! (If you're using deodorant for health reasons, it's especially important to make sure it doesn't contain toxic ingredients.) Baking soda has antimicrobial properties that make it a great odor fighter. Mix some with coconut oil or cornstarch to fight underarm odors, and add essential oils for fragrance. (Essential oils will also act as preservatives!)

Cleaning Products

Ionic compounds are chemicals that produce an electrically charged atom or molecule. When these electrically charged atoms enter water, they either stick to ions in the water (called dissociation) or latch onto dirt and contaminants.

This means that a lotion containing ionic compounds can clean your skin without leaving behind residue and dry it out. It also means you should be careful when using cleaning products containing ionic compounds because they can damage clothing or surfaces if you're not careful!

Water Purification

In order to remove impurities from water, you can consider an ionic compound, or salt. The dissolved particles in salt attract certain molecules in impure water (like chlorine) and allow those molecules to pass through a membrane, while blocking other particles (like viruses). This process, called osmosis, is used in desalination and many types of medical treatment.

Osmosis is just one example of how ionic compounds get used as a type of purifier. Industrial products like soaps and detergents that produce charged ions on their surface also play a key role in sterilizing contaminated environments. If you've ever rinsed clothes after they've come into contact with oil, grease, or harmful chemicals during a factory accident.

Maybe you've experienced what makes soap work at getting rid of contaminants. It all comes down to polar molecules attracting charged ones-the same concept seen when bits of dirt cling together as sediments when they enter rivers or oceans.