RE: Myth or Fact? #12 - Acid and Base saves Life
"The product will be H20 and NaCl." Sort of... the product would be H2O, Na+ and Cl-, as the ionic salt would be solvated. :)
Beyond this, your coworkers neighbor could have drank HCl, depending on how dilute it was it would have been fine (your stomach has 0.05 M HCl in it already). You can also get it on your skin, depends on how concentrated it is, just need to wash it off. A concentrated weak acid like Acetic Acid is not something you want to come in contact with, but when dilute we refer to it as vinegar.
Drinking a base would not be so great of an idea, but again, is still determinant to concentration.
Additionally you can not dissolve inert metals in a singular acid. You can dissolve them in a mixture of concentrated HCl and HNO3 which is called Aqua Regia and is not something you want to be around.
Pretty accurate! Thank you for your reply. There are surely acids that are harmless, but yet many people underestimate. That's why I try to make it a bit dramatic :) And totally correct! In German it's called Königwasser and is a compound you really want to mess with. Same goes to HF, nasty one