What is this simulation?
This simulation lets you explore what happens when vinegar and baking soda react. You can observe how mass, temperature, and gas production change during a chemical reaction.
How to use it
- Use the sliders to set how much vinegar and baking soda to use.
- Choose Open or Closed system to see how containment affects the results.
- Click Start Reaction to pour the vinegar into the flask.
- Watch the bubbles, gas syringe, temperature, and mass readings change.
- Click Record Data at any time to capture a measurement.
Key questions
- Does the total mass change during the reaction? Does it depend on whether the system is open or closed?
- Where does the gas come from? What happens to it in each system type?
- How does changing the amounts of vinegar or baking soda affect the reaction?
NGSS 5-PS1-2
Standards Alignment
5-PS1-2: Measure and graph quantities to provide evidence that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved.
Disciplinary Core Ideas: PS1.A (Structure and Properties of Matter), PS1.B (Chemical Reactions)
Cross-Cutting Concepts: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity — conservation of matter in chemical reactions.
Discussion Prompts
- Why does the mass decrease in the open system but not the closed system?
- If matter can't be created or destroyed, where did the "missing" mass go?
- How could you design an experiment to prove that the gas has mass?
- What happens when you change the amounts — does the total mass loss change proportionally?
Suggested Activity Flow
- Predict: Ask students to predict what will happen to the mass in each system.
- Observe: Run the simulation in both open and closed modes, recording data.
- Explain: Students analyze data in Tuva to identify the pattern.
- Extend: Vary the amounts and observe how it affects gas production and mass change.