First Day Science Experiment

Today, we experimented with a vinegar/baking soda mixture.  We learned that mixing the two elements together causes a chemical reaction that creates some kind of gas.  Here are some links to help you do this experiment at home and help answer some of your wonderings.  If you try this at home, be sure an adult is there!

Experiment directions:  https://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/balloon_blowup.html

Video of experiment:  http://goo.gl/o36CI8

Wonderopolis: Carbonation:  http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-are-some-drinks-bubbly/

Detailed explanation of the reaction in this experiment:

From OH WOW! Moment: Balloon Blow-Up by Audra Carlson

"Vinegar (HC2H3O2) is a solution of acetic acid. It reacts with baking soda, sodium bicarbonate
(NaHCO3), to produce carbon dioxide gas (CO2) and an aqueous solution of sodium acetate
(NaC2H3O2). The reaction can be written as follows:
NaHCO3 (aq) + HC2H3O2 (aq) ------> CO2 (g) + H2O (l) + NaC2H3O2 (aq)
The carbon dioxide filled up the balloon, causing it to expand. We saw the volume change caused by the carbon dioxide in this activity. What might have happened if we had capped the bottle off, leaving no place for the carbon dioxide to go? It would have built up pressure because carbon dioxide takes up space. Why do you think the bottle felt cold? The reaction needs heat to make it happen so it takes heat, leaving the bottle feeling cold. A reaction that needs heat to make it happen is called endothermic. How did you know that your reaction finished? What might have caused the reaction to stop? Your reaction stops when you run out of reactants. The reactants are the things on the left of our reaction equation above. Our reactants were baking soda and vinegar. When one of these is used up completely, the reaction will stop."