1Zoom past the bubbles
A reaction makes a new gas
Baking soda is not full of bubbles
Its tiny building blocks include bicarbonate. A bicarbonate piece can react and become new substances. It does not hide a ready-made gas bubble.
Acid brings a reaction partner
Lemon juice and vinegar can supply H+—a tiny partner that reacts with bicarbonate. The rearrangement makes water and carbon dioxide gas.
2Wet is not the whole story
Look at what is dissolved
Partners for the reaction
The amount of acid matters. Different juices and vinegars contain different amounts.
Dissolving is different
Plain water can dissolve baking soda without making the big stream of new gas that added acid can make.
3Follow one reaction
Meet, rearrange, separate
Gold stands for one acid partner; blue for one bicarbonate partner. Move through their meeting. Mint marks the new carbon dioxide. These are model amounts, not real bubble sizes.
4Now change the recipe
Twice the baking soda. Same acid.
Two open model cups start with the same four acid tokens. Cup A has four bicarbonate tokens; cup B has eight. Nothing has reacted yet. Compare the total gas after both reactions finish.
Which cup will make more carbon dioxide?
A: 4 acid + 4 bicarbonate. B: 4 acid + 8 bicarbonate. Choose before they meet.