Answer 1:
This is a great question! As you probably know,
in both cases, the reaction you see is the result
of mixing an acid (vinegar or lemon juice) and
a base (baking soda, AKA sodium bicarbonate).
In each case, a neutralization reaction
occurs, where hydrogen ions from the acid,
particular acid combine with the oxygen atoms from
the bicarbonate in the baking soda to form
water. A biproduct of the reaction is carbon
dioxide, which is the gassy bubbles we can observe
as the reaction is taking place.
So what is the difference between vinegar
and lemon juice? Vinegar has acetic acid,
whereas lemon juice has citric acid. Your
question about the duration of the reaction has to
do with a quantity called pKa, which tells us
about the extent to which an acid is willing to
give up its protons (hydrogen). It turns out
that a lower pKa indicates a stronger acid (i.e.,
the acid is more "willing" to give up its
protons). Acetic acid (vinegar) has a pKa of about
4.74. Citric acid, on the other hand, is actually
what is called a triprotic acid, which
means it has 3 hydrogen ions it is "willing to
give up" to the base. The pKa associated with the
first proton is about 2.9, the second is about
4.9, and the third is about 5.2. This means that
the first proton can be given up quite readily,
and after that, the second and third protons may
also be given up, depending on the conditions of
the reaction (and how basic your base is!). Thus,
the lemon juice can continue to react with
baking soda even after the first proton is
released, unlike acetic acid, which only has
one proton to give up. I hope this helps! Click Here to return to the search form.
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