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Grades K–2 · Materials & Matter

Where do the bubbles come from when baking soda meets vinegar?

Baking soda and vinegar can make a fizzy mixture. The fizz is made of bubbles. Inside each bubble is gas made during a chemical change.

P41 visual explanationThe open-cup picture shows gas bubbles produced by a chemical change. The gas is carbon dioxide, not steam from boiling. Bubble counts are picture symbols.A chemical change can make gas bubblesGas is being madeAn open cup lets gas escapeGas leavesGasbubblesThese bubbles do not come from boiling.

In the diagramA chemical change can make gas bubblesGas is being madeAn open cup lets gas escapeGas leavesGasbubblesThese bubbles do not come from boiling.

The open cup shows bubbles of newly made gas rising through the liquid. This is a chemical change, not boiling.

Vinegar contains an acid. When it meets baking soda, they can react and make new substances. One is a gas called carbon dioxide. The gas gathers into bubbles in the liquid.

Bubbles rise, and the gas can escape from the open cup. The liquid does not need to boil to make these bubbles. When one needed substance is used up, this bubbling stops.

About this explanation

Starting knowledge: Recognize liquid, powder and bubbles.

Sources

  • American Chemical Society — Controlling the Amount of Products in a Chemical Reaction
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