I saw online recently a post about borax and boric acid being the same.
Does anyone know if this is true or not?
Thanks.
Brenda
Borax & Boric Acid – The Same?
May 20, 2010 By 3 Comments
Please don't forget to "Pin" this post, it helps get the word out about our site. Thank you!
From The Hillbilly Housewife:
We all want to get the most out of our money, right? And we all love to get meals on the table with the least amount of effort and time spent in the kitchen.
But wouldn't you also love to get out of the kitchen fast AND with a few extra meals in the fridge and freezer?
Squeezing the most out of every cent you spend on groceries is what Cook Once Eat Twice is all about.
Now you can learn how to cook in ways that not only put dinner on the table economically, but with plenty to spare! And, we're not just talking leftovers here... we're talking about planning meals with NEW CREATIVE meals to come.
In this ebook, you'll learn about the strategies needed to get two, three, or MORE meals out of one cooking session. PLUS you'll get over 300 recipes to help you prepare a delicious plan of attack!
Click on and buy Cook Once Eat Twice today to start getting the most out of every meal!
Biochemist here just checking my email on lunch hour.
No they are not the same. From the Flinn Scientific Catalog:
Boric Acid: Chemical composition, H3 BO3
Borax (sodium borate): Chemical Composition, Na2 B4 O7 . 10 H2O
Boric Acid is soluble in alcohol and Sodium borate is not.
I read about this recently while looking around for a mattress that doesn’t contain fireproofing. Boric acid and Borax are the same thing. I looked at the Environmental Protection Agency’s website. You can Google them to look for articles on the topic if you are interested.
http://nlquery.epa.gov/epasearch/epasearch?querytext=boric+acid&fld=&areaname=&areacontacts=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epa.gov%2Fepahome%2Fcomments.htm&areasearchurl=&result_template=epafiles_default.xsl&filter=sample4filt.hts
Take Care
Jenna
They are both from the boron family. But they are different chemically – as noted by Barbara – and I belive borax is a mineral (usually chalky powder) and boric acid is liquid — but I could be wrong there. BUT, they are used for many of the same purposes (insect control, fire retardant, etc.), which makes them somewhat “synonymous” to us lay people who don’t delve too deeply into the chemistry of it. Kind of like (but totally different than) arguing that mayonaise and miracle whip are the same. They may be used for many of the same things, but made up of different stuff.
I think (trying to remember high school chemistry here) that you can make boric acid from borax (or maybe vice versa).