What ingredients make the vinegar and baking soda react to each other?
Acetic Acid and Sodium Bicarbonate. They make Sodium Acetate and Carbonic Acid. Carbonic Acid is unstable in open containers and QUICKLY breaks down to water and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is what you are seeing bubble. Chemically: CH3COOH + NaHCO3 yields CH3COONa + H2CO3 H2CO3 yields H2O and CO2 Now, why… both of these compounds are soluble in water. CH3COOH is really CH3COO- and H+ (H3O+ if you prefer) NaHCO3 is really Na+ and HCO3- It turn out that if H+ comes into contact with HCO3- they react quickly to force an acid-base reaction. Honestly, these are really a weak acid-weak base reaction interaction… but I get the feeling that this is beyond the question you wanted to ask. Hope I helped.
