WEBVTT - Why does Alka-Seltzer fizz?

0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:03.600
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from how stuff works dot com

0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:08.080
<v Speaker 1>where smart happens. Hi. I'm Marshall Brain with today's question,

0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:11.879
<v Speaker 1>why does Alka Seltzer fizz when you drop the tablet

0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:14.840
<v Speaker 1>in the water. The fizzing you see when you drop

0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:17.599
<v Speaker 1>the tablet in is the same sort of fizzing that

0:00:17.640 --> 0:00:21.079
<v Speaker 1>you see from baking powder. The baking powder reaction is

0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:25.280
<v Speaker 1>caused by an acid reacting with baking soda. In school,

0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:28.200
<v Speaker 1>you probably tried an experiment where you mix baking soda

0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:31.240
<v Speaker 1>with vinegar to see at foam. That's what's happening in

0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:34.800
<v Speaker 1>baking powder. If you look at the ingredients for Alka Seltzer,

0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:38.920
<v Speaker 1>you'll find that it contains citric acid and sodium bicarbonate,

0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:41.960
<v Speaker 1>which is baking soda. When you drop the tablet in water,

0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:46.159
<v Speaker 1>the acid and the baking soda react. This produces the fizz.

0:00:46.560 --> 0:00:49.600
<v Speaker 1>You can think of an Alka Seltzer tablet as compressed

0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:53.239
<v Speaker 1>baking powder with a little aspirin mixed in. Do you

0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:56.640
<v Speaker 1>have any ideas or suggestions for this podcast? If so,

0:00:56.800 --> 0:00:59.480
<v Speaker 1>please send me an email at podcast at how stuff

0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:02.920
<v Speaker 1>works dot For more on this and thousands of other topics,

0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:06.520
<v Speaker 1>go to how stuff works dot com, m