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Want to help me do low level chemistry?

WhiteZinfandelWhiteZinfandel Your insidesLet me show you themRegistered User regular
in Help / Advice Forum
I'm in Gen Chem and this question in the online homework program is stumping me.

"Many homeowners treat their lawns with CaCO3(s) to reduce the acidity of the soil. Write a net ionic equation for the reaction of CaCO3(s) with a strong acid."

The hints when I get it wrong are:
"If calcium carbonate reacts with acid, carbonic acid will form, which decomposes into water and carbon dioxide, the ultimate neutralization products of this reaction.

Does CaCO3(s) appear as an ionic species in the ionic equation?

Will the anion of the acid appear in the net ionic equation?

Did you write the net ionic equation, rather than the molecular equation or the overall ionic equation?"

My best guess for the total ionic equation, if I pick HCl as the strong acid, is

2H[+](aq)+2Cl[-](aq)+CaCO3(s) -> H2O(l)+CO2(g)+Ca[2+](aq)+2Cl[-](aq)
Brackets added for a modicum of clarity

Cross off the 2Cl[-](aq) to make it into a net ionic equation and we get... a wrong answer. Help?

Posts

  • DecomposeyDecomposey Registered User regular
    I don't know if it's a rule per se, but generally these forums will not do your homework.

    Before following any advice, opinions, or thoughts I may have expressed in the above post, be warned: I found Keven Costners "Waterworld" to be a very entertaining film.
  • tinwhiskerstinwhiskers Registered User regular
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP3o4iQsy7U


    Looking over what you have and what the video is doing(I don't have sound), and what I remember from chem

    2H+(aq) + CaCO3(s) --> H2O(l) + CO2(g) + Ca2+(aq)

    Is right, which I think is what you have.

    6ylyzxlir2dz.png
  • Fuzzy Cumulonimbus CloudFuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud Registered User regular
    that equation is correct
    sounds like the homework might be messed up or the formatting is messed up

    I hated every chem homework software I used because there were a LOT of buggy mistakes
    print out that one and get your professor to give you credit manually

  • WhiteZinfandelWhiteZinfandel Your insides Let me show you themRegistered User regular
    I talked to my professor after class and she removed the problem from the set. The program was acting funny and the problem was using material we hadn't covered yet anyway.

  • 143999143999 Tellin' ya not askin' ya, not pleadin' with yaRegistered User regular
    WhiteZinfandel wrote: »
    The program was acting funny and the problem was using material we hadn't covered yet anyway.

    Welcome to low-bidder educational software. If you're not accustomed to this being the root cause, you will be.

    8aVThp6.png
  • Gabriel_PittGabriel_Pitt Stepped in it Registered User regular
    Decomposey wrote: »
    I don't know if it's a rule per se, but generally these forums will not do your homework.

    Just to point out, there's a big difference between 'doing your homework,' - 'Hai guys! Look at this big chemistry problem! How do I does it? Halp!'

    And, 'I'm doing this problem, I think I'm doing it right, but the software keeps rejecting it. Am I doing something wrong?'

    As in this case, no, it was the software that was screwed up.

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