Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from how stuff works dot com
Speaker 1: where smart happens. Hi. I'm Marshall Brain with today's question,
Speaker 1: why does Alka Seltzer fizz when you drop the tablet
Speaker 1: in the water. The fizzing you see when you drop
Speaker 1: the tablet in is the same sort of fizzing that
Speaker 1: you see from baking powder. The baking powder reaction is
Speaker 1: caused by an acid reacting with baking soda. In school,
Speaker 1: you probably tried an experiment where you mix baking soda
Speaker 1: with vinegar to see at foam. That's what's happening in
Speaker 1: baking powder. If you look at the ingredients for Alka Seltzer,
Speaker 1: you'll find that it contains citric acid and sodium bicarbonate,
Speaker 1: which is baking soda. When you drop the tablet in water,
Speaker 1: the acid and the baking soda react. This produces the fizz.
Speaker 1: You can think of an Alka Seltzer tablet as compressed
Speaker 1: baking powder with a little aspirin mixed in. Do you
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