Chemistry Classics: Acid/Base - Vinegar (Acetic Acid) and Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate)

In this video, which I made while bored on a Sunday (I still had a ton of homework that I didn't feel like doing), I mix Vinegar and Baking Soda in the classic reaction that has captivated millions!

-BRIEF EXPLANATION-
Vinegar is a very weak acid that's safe to sell in grocery stores. It is acetic acid (CH3COOH), a very strong acid when concentrated, diluted to just .833 molar concentration, or 5% by volume, for those new to chemistry.

Baking soda is another household chemical - it is pure sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), which is cheap to make and has many good properties for cleaning and baking.

Vinegar actually consists of aqueous ions, H+ and CH3COO-, which dissociate when solid acetic acid is diluted into pure water. Since there are water molecules in vinegar, when we put baking soda into the vinegar, it dissociates into ions as well: Na+ and HCO3-.

The Na+ (sodium ion) and CH3COO- (acetate ion) are spectator ions in this reaction - in other words, they don't do anything, and they'll still be there after the reaction is all done. The reaction itself is actually two reactions. The first is an acid/base reaction. The H+ from the vinegar and the HCO3- from the baking soda form carbonic acid in the first step:

H+ + HCO3- → H2CO3

In the second step, the H2CO3 we've created immediately (like...really quickly!) decomposes into water (H2O) and carbon dioxide gas (CO2):

H2CO3 → H2O(l) + CO2(g)

The gas formed produces nice, fizzy bubbles in the H2O that's also getting formed. It's a really nice reaction that you could do right now, and it's totally safe!

Stay interested in chemistry - it can be a really cool subject when you understand what's happening!

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• vinegar
• baking
• soda
• acetic
• acid
• sodium
• bicarbonate
• carbonic
• acid-base
• base
• chemistry
• classics
• acid/base
• explanation

[NiwotCougar1212]

CU Boulder TA sent me here, nice video!

[petgraveyard]

@NiwotCougar1212 That's awesome! I can't believe the traction this video has gotten since I was in high school. Now I'm a TA myself...

[vbailey77]

Hey- I'm a 32 year old grad student who was showing my 9 y.o and 5 y.o. and a neighbor's kid this experiment in person and then wanted to explain it more simply than what i could tell them... so i looked for a video and here yours was. Thank you! Not only did you explain the reaction throroughly and succinctly, but you made it very cool in your presentation and at the end encouraged them to keep studying chemistry! Really great!

[petgraveyard]

I'm so glad that you could make some use of it! It was just kinda a fun video that I decided to make on a boring Sunday - I was taking AP Chemistry at the time and had just been doing acids and bases, so it was a nice review. I'm glad you could explain to some future chemists how stuff works - tell them to take AP Chemistry when they get to high school, it really is an amazing and powerful curriculum.

[KatherineNgoNgo]

what song is this?

[petgraveyard]

"The Adventure" by Angels & Airwaves...my favorite band of all time =)

[22jagdpanther]

good job :D

[liamzuid]

Im going to do this with regular soda.

[HawkPokemon]

i mixed sodium bicarbonate with citric acid

[yipfai]

Hi, good video.

I am wondering if we can control the reaction time and the amount of carbon dioxide by adjusting the content, PH value of the acid and base.

I am doing a project that needs to generate alot of CO2 in a short time, do you have any tips?

Thanks buddy.

[ParasDyes]

How acetic acid is used in manufacturing and what are the products can be made through it...this video is really helpful for that .

Thanks. Paras Dyes and chemicals

[NenadE46]

Now Drink it :D

[Rpleech1]

My University of Colorado at Boulder Chemistry 1021 teacher referred us to your video dude, mad props!