Volcanic Eruption with 100 Pounds of Baking Soda and 150 Gallons of Vinegar!

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You’ve done this during lab – albeit* on a much smaller scale!

Below you can see the eruption from a different angle.

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Question:  How do you think the community college students combined such huge amounts of vinegar and baking soda to create the chemical reaction? Stated another way, how did they manage to combine such massive quantities of an acid (ascetic acid in vinegar is  CH₃COOH) and a base (baking soda or sodium bicarbonate is NaHCO₃) to create the eruption? Imagine you are one of the college students working to create the spectacle! What would you have been doing with all those gallons of vinegar and pounds of baking soda?

*albeit: although; for example: Katy Perry was married to Russell Brand, albeit for only 14 months.

Acid in the Digestive System

As we’ve learned about acids, bases, and pH levels, we’ve discovered an acid within our own bodies: HCl, or hydrochloric acid, which helps make up gastric acid. HCl is so acidic that would burn holes through our stomachs if they were not lined with protective mucus. Say thank-you to mucus!

Unfortunately, mucus sometimes doesn’t manage the job all by itself. See the 1972 commercial below for an example.

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The above television commercial, which generated a famous catch-phrase (“I can’t believe I ate the whole thing”) in the 1970s, promised to ease Ralph of his discomfort after overeating.

But what kind of discomfort was Ralph suffering and how was Alka-Seltzer going to help?

Question #1: Ralph in the commercial may be suffering from heartburn. Describe heartburn using what you know about gastric acid and the human digestive system.

Question #2: Ralph takes the Alka-Seltzer to neutralize the acids in his digestive system. What does it mean to neutralize an acid? (Make sure to use words from class in your explanation.)

Alka-Seltzer was famous for its commercials back in the day. Check out this one featuring wild Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali!