Tag: sodium bicarbonate

Sodium bicarbonate and sodium citrate

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zeplora fizzy tablets citric acid IMG_4936

Since baking soda and citric acid in water make a good fizzy reaction, I thought it would be interesting to make tablets of each, to add to water.

I recently figured out how to make baking soda tablets, and was able to use the same method to make citric acid tablets. The tablets contain citric acid and gelatine powder in equal quantities, with a few drops of food colouring.

Mixing
Mixing
zeplora fizzy tablets measuring IMG_4935
Measuring the amount per tablet
The plastic insert in the garlic press.
The plastic insert in the garlic press.
Mixture in press, about to be compacted
Mixture in press, about to be compacted
The two types of tablet, ready to go
The two types of tablet, ready to go

The reaction when added to water seemed slower than just the ingredients alone, probably because of the gelatine.

Here is the reaction formula:

3NaHCO3 + C6H8O7 → 3Na+ + C6H5O73- + 3H2O + 3CO2

The gas is the CO2.

After about 1/4 of an hour the mixture looked like this:

The result after letting the mixture sit for about 1/4 hour.
The result after letting the mixture sit for about 1/4 hour.