Baking Soda & Vinegar
The two common kitchen ingredients, baking soda and vinegar can provide endless hours of fun with easy-to-do experiments at home.
Vinegar and baking soda are chemical compounds.
- Acid: Vinegar is an acid, a sour liquid that can sting.
- Base: Baking soda is a base that tastes bitter and soapy to the touch.
When an acid and a base are mixed, a chemical reaction occurs that can be observed using our senses of smell, sight, and hearing.
Fizz Experiment
What you need:
- Baking Soda
- Vinegar
- Food Coloring (optional)
- Tall glass
- Tray
Steps:
- Add some baking soda to a tall glass. If you are using food coloring, add a few drops now.
- Pour vinegar on top of the baking soda.
- Observe how the mixture sizzles and bubbles to the top of the glass.
Fizz Experiment – Science Behind
Baking soda is made up of tiny particles called molecules. Each molecule has four elements: sodium, hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen.
The vinegar combines with baking soda to release carbon dioxide and water.
Baking soda starts to fizz and bubble because carbon dioxide gas tries to escape from the mixture, creating bubbles that rise to the surface.
Reactant: A substance (or substances) present at the start of the reaction, such as Baking Soda and Vinegar.
Product: The resulting substance (or substances) formed by a chemical reaction – Carbon dioxide and Water.
Dancing Rice Experiment
What you need:
- Baking Soda
- Vinegar
- Water
- Brown Rice
- Clear Glass
- Teaspoon
Steps:
- Add a cup of water to an empty glass.
- Add one teaspoon of baking soda and stir it well.
- Add a few rice grains. They will sink to the bottom.
- Now pour in a teaspoon of vinegar and watch the rice dance up and down in the glass.
- You can add more vinegar as you go along.
Dancing Rice Experiment – Science Behind
When baking soda and vinegar mix, an endothermic chemical reaction occurs.
Endothermic Reaction is a chemical reaction that absorbs heat from its environment, providing energy for the reaction to occur.
During this chemical reaction, carbon dioxide is released.
As the carbon dioxide rises toward the surface of the cup, the bubbles attach to the sides of the rice grains.
The bubbles carry the rice to the water’s surface, where the bubbles pop and the rice sinks back to the bottom of the cup.
Fun Facts
Here are some interesting facts about kitchen chemistry:
- Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate, is a naturally occurring mineral in Earth’s crust.
- Baking soda and vinegar are natural cleaning agents. Combined, they create a foaming action that helps to remove dirt and grime.
- You can use the reaction between baking soda and vinegar to inflate a balloon.
- Mixing baking soda and vinegar helps the batter rise in baked goods.
- Baking soda can help smother small grease fires in the kitchen. When sprinkled on the flames, it releases carbon dioxide, which helps extinguish the fire.
Review
Let’s quickly recap what we learned about kitchen chemistry:
- What type of chemical compound is vinegar? Acid
- What type of chemical compound is baking soda? Base
- What substance is present at the start of a reaction? Reactant
- What is the resulting substance formed by a chemical reaction? Product
- What gas forms when we mix baking soda and vinegar? Carbon Dioxide
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