The story behind this acid is much more interesting than the acid itself.
The name "formic acid" comes from the Latin word for ants ("formica"). Basically, scientists noticed acidic vapors rising from anthills, so they decided to do what anyone would do - boil up a bucketload of ants and try to isolate the acid. They did, and called it formic acid.
It is useless.
Well it's not useless. It is widely used to preserve feed for livestock during cold winter months. But that was only discovered recently. The scientists who discovered formic acid certainly didn't know that.
If you ask me, they just wanted to boil ants.
2 comments:
That was a very enriching story.
Hands down the best Chemistry blog I've ever laid eyes on. (Landed here searching for your phone number)
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