The reaction is driven to the right by flushing carbon dioxide from the mixture as it is released. The production of calcium oxide from limestone is one of the oldest chemical transformations produced by man. Its use predates recorded history.
Most ancient languages have a word for calcium oxide.
In Latin it is calx , from which the name of the element calcium is taken. In Old English, its name is l m , which is the origin of the modern commercial name for calcium oxide, namely lime. The abundance of limestone in the Earth's crust and the ease of its transformation to calcium oxide do not alone explain why the lime is one of the oldest products of chemistry. Lime has many properties that make it quite valuable. The oldest uses of lime exploit its ability to react with carbon dioxide to regenerate calcium carbonate.