"To illustrate that, the email points out that Coke can be used to clean a toilet, help remove a rusty bolt, or remove blood from a highway accident."<p>Yeah well why would anybody believe that if a soda can be used in such ways that it is also bad for you? I mean I flush the toilet with water! With WATER! And it removes most traces of excrement... Arg, it must be bad for you!
While coke does contain some phosphoric acid, that's dwarfed by the total amount of carbonic acid (H2CO3, commonly just called carbonation). Flat coke, where most of the carbonic acid has broken down to water and CO2 gas, is significantly less acidic.
As discussed on Snopes: <a href="http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/acid.asp" rel="nofollow">http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/acid.asp</a>
I remember when my mom wanted to teach me not to drink soda when I was young, that it was bad.
So to show it was bad for the tooth's she took one of my tooth I lost and put it in coca cola. And after a couple of weeks (don't remember the time exactly, but it was quite long time) it had dissolved to just some goo at the bottom of the glass :)
> The steel nail and keratin nail were examined under the 8x loupe and notes were made about their appearances.<p>Gee, a simple metric might've been just to measure the mass of the nail before and after.
Were the keratin nails in the same container as the steel nails? What if one provided a prophylactic effect preventing the other from being dissolved?! Rerun the experiment! 18 jars this time!
When I was a kid, I remember my dad once cleaning corrosion off car battery terminals with Coke.<p>That + a wire brush. It did much better than just water + wire brush.
I'd be interested to see if raw phosphoric acid has much effect on nails.<p>I'd also be interested to see if it's at all possible to dissolve a nail in coke - perhaps by heating the coke, agitating it, and using vast quantities over a long time?
Coke will help free a stuck seatpost in a bicycle if the frame is steel and the seat post is aluminium.<p>Just turn the bike upside down, pour some coke down the seat tube, leave to stand overnight, and hit the seat with a mallet the next day.
The pH level of most drinks are not low enough to eat metal, roughly a level of 2 depending on the metal and reactions:
<a href="http://www.sheltondentistry.com/patient-information/ph-values-common-drinks/" rel="nofollow">http://www.sheltondentistry.com/patient-information/ph-value...</a><p>Citric Acid will eat metal, which is why liquids like orange and lime juice are not stored in metal containers.
The quote the post attempts to test is this:<p><pre><code> The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. Its pH is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about 4 days.
</code></pre>
However, the test does not line up with my reading of the quote:<p><pre><code> Phospohric acid, which has a PH of 2.8 can dissolve a nail in about 4 days.
</code></pre>
Let's see what a nail does in phosphoric acid!<p>-- <i>edited for readability</i>
Another variation is<p><pre><code> Can Fanta dissolve a piece of liver?
</code></pre>
In Russia it's commonly believed that it does. Have no idea if it's true, probably not.<p>Yet another gem is<p><pre><code> Can Pepsi be used to de-calcify and clean toilets?
</code></pre>
This is actually more believable, but still quite a bit out there.
But is 1/4 ounce enough to show the effect? I would have used at least 8 ounces. Quantity matters!<p>Also there was the slight possibility that the keratin nail provided buffering that prevents the steel nail from dissolving. It would have been prudent to test them separately.
There are acidic things considered healthy that people eat all the time. The problem with Coke and any other soda is the massive quantities of sugar, which has been proven bad for you.