Question

A student measures 10 g of baking soda and mixes it with 5 grams of vinegar. The mixture begins to bubble and fizz and feels cold to the touch. Once the reaction is over the student weighs the solution and discovers that the resulting mixture weighs only 12g. What happened to the missing 3 grams of product? Use the Law of Conservation of Matter in your answer.

Answer 1

Answer:

Some of the product is a gas that goes to the atmosphere.

Explanation:

Based on the chemical reaction of baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate: NaHCO₃) with vinegar (Acetic acid: CH₃COOH):

NaHCO₃(aq) + CH₃COOH(aq) → H₂O(aq) +  CO₂(g) + CH₃COONa(aq)

When the reaction occurs, one of the products (CO₂) is a gas that will disappear of the mixture to stay in the atmosphere. That is the reason why there are missing 3 grams.