Question

Which gas is released during the reaction of baking soda with vinegar?

• A. Hydrogen
• B. Oxygen
• C. Carbon dioxide
• D. None of these

Answer 1

The correct option is C

Carbon dioxide

Explanation-

• Dilute acetic acid (CH₃COOH) or Vinegar reacts with baking soda (NaHCO₃) to form sodium acetate (CH₃COONa), water, and carbon dioxide gas.
• When dilute acetic acid is poured on baking soda-
• It is observed that there is a lot of effervescence, which indicates that the gas is evolving (Carbon dioxide is the gas that has been released).
• Reaction-

$\underset{\mathrm{Vinegar}(\mathrm{Acetic}\mathrm{acid})}{{\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COOH}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Baking}\mathrm{soda}}{{\mathrm{NaHCO}}_3\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)}\to \underset{\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{acetate}}{{\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COONa}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Water}}{\hspace{0.17em}{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}+\hspace{0.17em}\underset{\mathrm{Carbon}\mathrm{dioxide}}{{\mathrm{CO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}$

The explanation for incorrect options:

• Option A:
  The hydrogen gas produced during the reaction gets oxidized to ${\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}$.
• Hence, no hydrogen gas is produced.
• Option B:
  Oxygen gas can be produced by natural methods like photosynthesis, in which plants use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide in the air into oxygen.

Hence, the correct option is (C) Carbon dioxide.