Dissolving calcium chloride is highly exothermic, meaning that it gives off a lot of heat when mixed with water (the water can reach up to 140oF, so watch your hands!). The energy released comes from the bond energy of the calcium chloride atoms, and is actually electromagnetic energy.
When you combine the calcium chloride and sodium carbonate solutions, you form the new chemicals sodium chloride (table salt) and calcium carbonate. Both of these new chemicals are solids and “fall out” of the solution, or precipitate. If you find that there is still liquid in the final solution, you didn’t have quite a saturation solution of one (or both) initial solutions.
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Right, definitely don’t eat anything from an experiment, but sodium chloride is indeed table salt, which is what we use in our food.
Is the table salt that we made in the experiment the same salt we use in our food? (Not asking if I could eat it.)
Actually, the reaction creates sodium chloride and calcium carbonate (not calcium chloride). So, both chlorine atoms are used to create NaCl. But, notice that calcium chloride has two chlorine atoms and sodium carbonate has two sodium atoms. So the reaction gives us two sodium chloride molecules, which is written as 2NaCl.
If calcium chloride has two chlorines what happened to it when it changes to sodium chloride and calcium chloride?
As a scientist, don’t ever eat your experiment EVER! Unless it specifically says it’s ok (you’re doing food science, for example like making football ice cream), assume it’s not safe to eat and dispose of it when you’re done.
is the salt eteble
when I mixed the super washing soda with water and got a warm solution. is super washing soda different than washing soda?
Oh, glad to hear that’s what was suppose to happen. We were expecting granules of salt crystals or something like that. Thank you for your responses and the suggestions too. We applied them to our experiment and they were very helpful!
It sounds like it worked! It won’t be a dry solid, like the powders you used in this experiment, or like a rock of ice, but rather like a wet gel slush. If you had a clear section of liquid near the bottom, it just means that there wasn’t enough powder mixed into the original solutions. Here are some suggestions in case you need them for your experiment:
1. When you add the calcium chloride to the water in the first step, did the temperature increase?
2. Did you dissolve all the calcium chloride or where there bits left on the bottom? Add more water if you have bits on the bottom.
3. Make sure you pour only the liquids into the test tube, and be sure it’s a saturated solution.
4. Was the sodium carbonate from a box of “washing soda” or did you use the pure chemical?
5. When you combine the two together, you should get a white slushy solid in the top (sodium chloride and calcium chloride).
When we added the sodium carbonate to the calcium chloride is when we got the gel.
It started out as a slimy gel (almost like egg whites) and as we poked and prodded it a bit it became more of a slush.
The sodium carbonate is a fine powder and the calcium chloride: round pellets, like tiny pebbles.
Which powder or which step of the process gave you the gel/pulp? (Was it like a slush?) Also, what was the powder like before you added it in? Was it a dine powder or more like sand, or larger granules like pebbles?
We tried this experiment and instead of a powder we got a whitish gel/pulp.
What is it?
What did we do wrong?
Yes you can. You can use gloves if you’ve got sensitive skin. Calcium carbonate is used to pickle vegetables, and sodium carbonate is laundry soap.
Can you touch the solid or not?
No – never, ever eat anything that comes out of a science experiment… ever. You not only run the risk of ingesting harmful contaminants, but if you’re using chemistry glassware, there’s a good it’s got residue from past toxic experiments. And just FYI, “salt” doesn’t always mean “table salt”… it’s a term for a certain set of chemicals that share a special likeness.
Can you use the salt in the experiment for eating? Or is it advisable to just not eat anything that comes out of a science experiment, unless specified otherwise?