Question

A student pours a few drops of vinegar onto limestone and it starts bubbling. What kind of reaction is this? How does it relate to chemical weathering, monuments and statues?

Answer 1

The correct answer is - acid-base reaction or chemical weathering.

Step-by-step explanation:

Vinegar is an acid that dissolves a material that is commonly found and known as calcium carbonate present in the limestone. When these two, vinegar mix with calcium carbonate of the limestone, the atoms in the acetic acid and the calcium carbonate come apart and rearrange in different ways to make new chemicals.

This rearrangement results in the release of carbon dioxide as a stream of bubbles. It is a form of weathering called chemical weathering and many monuments are based on rocks that have limestones in their composition and acid rain work similar to vinegar.