What happens if you put chalk in vinegar

I just collected some chalk from the ground near a chalk pit; it works a treat with both vinegar and lemon juice! You can see the bubbles fizzing off the chalk. Post a Comment. Tuesday, November 13, Chalk and Vinegar. A big piece of sidewalk chalk sitting in a glass of vinegar, not really doing much of anything.

I also got my friend to try a demonstration I read about in Uncle Tungsten , and which is mentioned in passing in Joy of Chemistry as an example of the effects of acid rain.

It involves dissolving a piece of chalk in a glass of vinegar. My friend and I tried Crayola brand blackboard chalk from Wal-Mart but did not get much of a reaction.

Over the next few days, check on your experiment every few hours, taking photos or notes of your observations. Notice how quickly the vinegar dissolves the calcium carbonate and how much sediment is building up in the bottom of the glass.

The chalk may completely dissolve within a few days. Compare acidity levels of different liquids by performing the same experiment with several samples. Use vinegar in one glass and water in another, and prepare other glasses containing lemon juice, vegetable oil, soda and other liquids to test. Put a piece of chalk in each glass, and observe the glasses every few hours to see which liquid is dissolving the chalk the fastest and which is dissolving the chalk the slowest.

The more acidic the liquid, the faster the chalk with dissolve. Acid rain has a different effect on different types of rock, depending on its chemical composition and hardness. Although it is a slower process in nature, this same reaction happens to limestone — acidic rain reacts with it, producing carbon dioxide.

This process is called chemical weathering. As shown in this experiment, when the limestone is in smaller pieces, it will be weathered away more quickly, even with the same mass. Take a look at some statues in your town or city; can you tell which ones are older? In nature, usually when something needs their surface to perform something like a reaction often, the structure is small. This is because smaller objects have more surface area in comparison to their volume.

This can be shown mathematically. First, calculate the volume length3 , and then calculate the surface area length2 x 6 for each cube. Then, take a look at how fast both the surface area and the volume are growing from one cube to the next. This phenomenon allows things like cells to be as efficient as they are; their small size allows them to transport more food over their surface, while not wasting energy on a big interior!