This Activity is suitable for a high school chemistry or introductory college chemistry lab. The citric acid and baking soda, when in solution, react to form carbon dioxide gas.
Students are first of all challenged to try to make the drink using trial and error.
This generally leads to poor results, since too much of any one ingredient will produce an unpleasant taste. However, by examining the complete balanced equation and using stoichiometry, students can easily determine the correct ratios of citric acid and sodium bicarbonate, which makes for a great tasting fizzy drink. All rights reserved.