OT: Coke (was: leaky batteries! - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

3 Dec 2003

On Dec 3,  3:55, der Mouse wrote:
...
  [cisin(a)xenosoft.com]
  "carbonic acid" is water with CO2 in
suspension?? 
 [vance(a)neurotica.com]
  No.  Not in suspension.  In solution. 
 It's not quite a solution in the usual sense of the word.  More like a
...
  reaction product - but it's one which is fairly
close to balanced
 energically and thus can run either way with relative ease, either
 H2O+CO2->H2CO3 or H2CO3->H2O+CO2.  (Most reactions run both ways in
 theory, but with a large energy difference that makes it easy to run
 one way and hard the other.  An example is NaOH+HCl = H2O+NaCl+heat,
 with the "heat" term large enough, especially compared to the
 activation energy, that it's _hard_ to make salt water disassociate
 into caustic soda and hydrochloric acid.) 
<tongue-somewhat-in-cheek>
Well if we're being picky, then I'd say it *is* a solution in the
normal sense of the word.  Carbonic acid is a very weak acid, and the
reaction is firmly in favour of a predominance of CO2 in solution.

For the rest, CO2 and water each dissociate just like any inorganic
compound in water.  You don't really form H2CO3, you form 2 x H+ and
CO3--.  Similarly, when you have salt water, you have Na+ and Cl-, plus
a few hydrogen and hydroxyl ions, not "molecules" of NaCl.  It's not
*that* hard to turn it into NaOH; a 1.5V battery[1] will add electrons,
cause hydrogen to be given off, liberating chlorine as well, and what's
left is Na+ and OH-.  See, we're back to electrons again :-)
</tongue-somewhat-in-cheek>

[1] Yes, I know it's a single cell, not a battery :-)

-- 
Pete						Peter Turnbull
						Network Manager
						University of York