Astudentwasaddingbakingsodaandvinegarinabottletoconductanexperiment. Theythen
putaballoonontopofthebottleimmediatelyafteraddingthemtogether. Thestudentobserved
thattheballooninflatedandgotlarger. Thestudentthenpredictedthatthechemicalreaction
betweenthevinegarandthebakingsodahadcreatedbrandnewmatter,andwouldhavemore
massattheendofthereaction. Wouldyouagreewiththestudent’spredictionornot?Explain
youranswer
1 answer
No, I would not agree with the student's prediction. In this experiment, the reaction between vinegar (acetic acid) and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) produces carbon dioxide gas, which inflates the balloon. The additional mass of the balloon can be attributed to the gas filling it, but no new matter is created in the chemical reaction itself. The total mass of the system (vinegar, baking soda, bottle, and balloon) remains the same before and after the reaction. Therefore, the student's prediction that the chemical reaction created brand new matter and would have more mass at the end of the reaction is incorrect.