page_title: Calcium carbonate
section_title: Related pages
hierarchical_section_title: Calcium carbonate / Related pages
caption_attribution_description: Terraced mineral deposits beneath Canary Spring at Yellowstone National Park
context_page_description: Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound, with the chemical formula CaCO₃. The elements involved are calcium, carbon and oxygen. It is a common substance found as rock in all parts of the world, and is the main component of seashells, snails, and eggshell.
  Calcium carbonate is usually the main cause of hard water. It is used as a calcium supplement or as a treatment for antacid, but too much can be bad for your health.
  Calcium carbonate is found naturally as the following minerals and rocks:
  Aragonite
  Calcite
  Vaterite or
  Chalk
  Limestone
  Marble
  Travertine
  To test whether a mineral or rock contains calcium carbonate, strong acids, such as hydrochloric acid, can be added to it. If the sample does contain calcium carbonate, it will fizz and produce carbon dioxide. Weak acids such as acetic acid will react, but less quickly. All of the rocks/minerals mentioned above will react with acid.
context_section_description: Aragonite
  Calcite
  Limestone
  Ocean acidification
  Gesso
  Cuttlefish
  Cuttlebone
caption: Travertine calcium carbonate deposits from a hot spring
exif: {"Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition 3.0", "Image DateTime": "2007:04:13 17:15:44", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "124", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "296", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6212", "EXIF ExifVersion": "[0, 2, 2, 0]", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "[0, 1, 0, 0]", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2321", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1488"}