How to Use sodium hydroxide in a Sentence

sodium hydroxide

noun
Definition of sodium hydroxidenext
  • When the natural wood is boiled in a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfite, the chemicals break down the lignin in the wood.
    — Leah Froats, Discover Magazine, 7 Feb. 2018
  • So the Hanford workers added huge amounts of sodium hydroxide to neutralize the acid.
    — Valerie Brown, Discover Magazine, 28 Sep. 2018
  • The important thing to keep running was the fan that pumped air through a canister of sodium hydroxide.
    — Robert Kunzig, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
  • In this case, chromium chloride and sodium hydroxide swap ions.
    — Meghan Herbst, Wired, 11 May 2021
  • First, the researchers put blocks of wood in a boiling bath filled with water, sodium hydroxide and other chemicals for about two hours.
    — Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 16 May 2016
  • One thousand pounds of sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, leaked from the tank, according to the response center report.
    — Sara Sneath, NOLA.com, 27 Mar. 2018
  • Within a few hours, the level of sodium hydroxide, the chemical compound known as lye that’s added to dissolve heavy metals, had increased to 100 times the usual amount.
    — Alissa Walker, Curbed, 11 Feb. 2021
  • But at about 1:30 p.m., someone accessed it again, took control of the mouse, directed it to the software that controls water treatment and increased the amount of sodium hydroxide.
    — Frank Bajak, Star Tribune, 9 Feb. 2021
  • Today's aerosol oven cleaners are often made with lye, or sodium hydroxide.
    — Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 12 Nov. 2023
  • Manufacturers get chlorine gas as a byproduct of the process that makes sodium hydroxide.
    — Ron Hurtibise, sun-sentinel.com, 26 Apr. 2021
  • The heavy texture of relaxers smooth out curls while the sodium hydroxide breaks those disulfide bonds so the hair is permanently locked into a different, straighter form.
    — Amber Rambharose, Allure, 10 Dec. 2020
  • Most of these entered the waste as an unintended consequence of using cheap sodium hydroxide, Kruger said.
    — Valerie Brown, Discover Magazine, 28 Sep. 2018
  • More than 20 years ago, a couple of Emory University researchers with a lot of time on their hands tried to dissolve Peeps in water, acetone, sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide.
    — al, 31 Mar. 2021
  • One of the chemicals commonly used in soaps and detergents is sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda.
    — Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Mar. 2022
  • Their approach is to treat blocks of wood with sodium hydroxide and sodium sulphate in a chemical process similar to that used to remove lignin from papermaking pulp.
    — The Economist, 14 June 2018
  • The substance is found in products such brake linings and gaskets, and is used to manufacture chlorine bleach and sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda.
    — CBS News, 5 Apr. 2022
  • After watching all this, the Oldsmar plant operator quickly lowered the sodium hydroxide level and called his boss.
    — Peter Elkind, ProPublica, 17 Mar. 2021
  • If the alkali is sodium hydroxide, the result is a hard soap, relatively difficult to dissolve.
    — C. Claiborne Ray, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2018
  • Water will happily accept that electron, but at a cost: the reaction creates sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and hydrogen gas (H2).
    — Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 22 Feb. 2012
  • The operator watched as the intruder clicked into various software programs before landing on a function that controls the amount of sodium hydroxide, or lye, in the plant’s water system.
    — Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2023
  • The bottle is charged for six minutes to electrolyze it, creating a solution that looks like water but is a mix of hypochlorous acid (a powerful disinfectant) and sodium hydroxide (which works as a detergent and cuts through grease).
    — Janelle Nanos, BostonGlobe.com, 20 June 2019
  • The liquid commonly used for unclogging sinks, tubs and other drains contains sodium hydroxide or lye, which can be used for dissolving organic matter.
    — Washington Post, 14 June 2019
  • Historically about 25% of sodium hydroxide has been used by the paper industry.
    — Ron Hurtibise, sun-sentinel.com, 26 Apr. 2021
  • Panicked, the lawsuit says, Traci Hall ran back into the restaurant and learned that an employee had filled her cup from a spigot that dispenses sodium hydroxide, a powerful solvent used to clean commercial cooking equipment.
    — Jeanne Houck, Cincinnati.com, 14 June 2018
  • If ingested in large amounts, sodium hydroxide can cause vomiting, chest and abdominal pain, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
    — Jeff Pegues, CBS News, 9 Feb. 2021
  • During alkaline hydrolysis, a human body is sealed in a long, stainless-steel chamber, while a heated solution of 95 percent water and 5 percent sodium hydroxide passes over and around it.
    — Lauren Oster, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 July 2022
  • Perlroth is correct—earlier this year, a single hacker tried to raise sodium hydroxide to poisonous levels in a U.S. water treatment facility.
    — Rich Karlgaard, Forbes, 8 June 2021
  • Supposedly, gentler, no-lye relaxers (without sodium hydroxide that can cause chemical burns) are also available, but Lane says the propensity for damage is still high.
    — Tayler Adigun, Allure, 4 Oct. 2023
  • Cleaners that contain sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide are even worse.
    — Jeanne Huber, Washington Post, 15 Dec. 2023
  • These may list ingredients such as saponified vegetable oils, sodium palmitate, sodium cocoate or sodium hydroxide.
    — Chiara Butler, Good Housekeeping, 29 June 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sodium hydroxide.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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