How Does Zinc React With Hydrochloric Acid?
Zinc is a metallic element that reacts with hydrochloric acid when it's in its elemental state. This reaction generates the very flammable element H2, or hydrogen gas. Despite the fact that your stomach produces hydrochloric acid, the zinc in food and supplements doesn't react with stomach acid, because the zinc is not in elemental form.
Zinc
Zinc is in a group of elements from the periodic table called transition metals. These metals have variable reactivity and occur in nature in elemental form to varying degrees. Zinc occurs in nature both in elemental form -- as a shiny gray metal -- and in the form of a salt. Humans and many other organisms depend upon a certain amount of nonmetallic zinc -- that is, zinc in salt form -- to maintain cellular function.
- Zinc is in a group of elements from the periodic table called transition metals.
- These metals have variable reactivity and occur in nature in elemental form to varying degrees.
Zinc and Hydrochloric Acid
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While not all metals react with hydrochloric acid, or HCl, some do. A metal's ability to react with HCl depends upon the metal's so-called activity, where metals with high activity react with HCl. Metallic zinc's activity is high enough to allow it to react with HCl, which produces H2 gas and the compound zinc chloride, or ZnCl2, explains Dr. Martin Silberberg in his book “Chemistry: The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change. 1"
- While not all metals react with hydrochloric acid, or HCl, some do.
- Metallic zinc's activity is high enough to allow it to react with HCl, which produces H2 gas and the compound zinc chloride, or ZnCl2, explains Dr. Martin Silberberg in his book “Chemistry: The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change.
Zinc as a Mineral
You take in zinc anytime you consume certain foods, especially meats and shellfish. Zinc plays an important role as an essential mineral, explains Dr. Lauralee Sherwood in her book "Human Physiology." A number of your enzymes require zinc in order to function, where an enzyme is a chemical that helps reactions take place faster than they would otherwise 2. Many of the metabolic enzymes that you use to help process nutrients depend upon zinc.
- You take in zinc anytime you consume certain foods, especially meats and shellfish.
- A number of your enzymes require zinc in order to function, where an enzyme is a chemical that helps reactions take place faster than they would otherwise 2.
Zinc in the Body
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While you have HCl in your stomach -- it assists in digestion of food -- you don't produce either H2 or ZnCl2 when you consume zinc in food. This is because the zinc you take in through food or supplement sources is not in metallic form. Instead, it has lost some of its electrons, forming positively charged particles called zinc ions. The body doesn't use metallic zinc, and the zinc in food doesn't react with HCl.
- While you have HCl in your stomach -- it assists in digestion of food -- you don't produce either H2 or ZnCl2 when you consume zinc in food.
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References
- “Chemistry: The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change”; Martin Silberberg, Ph.D.; 2008
- “Human Physiology”; Lauralee Sherwood, Ph.D.; 2004
- National Institutes of Health. Office of Dietary Supplements. Zinc Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Updated March 6, 2020.
- Wessels I, Maywald M, Rink L. Zinc as a Gatekeeper of Immune Function. Nutrients. 2017;9(12):1286. doi:10.3390/nu9121286
- Mousa HA. Prevention and Treatment of Influenza, Influenza-Like Illness, and Common Cold by Herbal, Complementary, and Natural Therapies. J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med. 2017;22(1):166-174. doi:10.1177/2156587216641831
- Krebs NF, Miller LV, Hambidge KM. Zinc deficiency in infants and children: a review of its complex and synergistic interactions. Paediatr Int Child Health. 2014;34(4):279-288. doi:10.1179/2046905514Y.0000000151
- Gogia S, Sachdev HS. Zinc supplementation for mental and motor development in children. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012;12:CD007991. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD007991.pub2
- Ogawa Y, Kinoshita M, Shimada S, Kawamura T. Zinc and Skin Disorders. Nutrients. 2018;10(2):199. doi:10.3390/nu10020199
- Gupta M, Mahajan VK, Mehta KS, Chauhan PS. Zinc Therapy in Dermatology: A Review. Dermatol Res Pract. 2014;2014:709152. doi:10.1155/2014/709152
- Khan WU, Sellen DW. World Health Organization. Zinc supplementation in the management of diarrhoea. 2011.
- Petrilli MA, Kranz TM, Kleinhaus K, et al. The Emerging Role for Zinc in Depression and Psychosis. Front Pharmacol. 2017;8:414. doi:10.3389/fphar.2017.00414
- Fallah A, Mohammad-Hasani A, Colagar AH. Zinc is an Essential Element for Male Fertility: A Review of Zn Roles in Men's Health, Germination, Sperm Quality, and Fertilization. J Reprod Infertil. 2018;19(2):69‐81.
- Zhao J, Dong X, Hu X, et al. Zinc levels in seminal plasma and their correlation with male infertility: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sci Rep. 2016;6:22386. Published 2016 Mar 2. doi:10.1038/srep22386
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Oysters, Raw. FoodData Central. Updated 2020.
Writer Bio
Kirstin Hendrickson is a writer, teacher, coach, athlete and author of the textbook "Chemistry In The World." She's been teaching and writing about health, wellness and nutrition for more than 10 years. She has a Bachelor of Science in zoology, a Bachelor of Science in psychology, a Master of Science in chemistry and a doctoral degree in bioorganic chemistry.