The aim of the lesson was for the boys to neutralise vinegar using bicarbonate of soda and to understand that neutralisation is a chemical reaction between opposites and occurs when an acid and an alkali are mixed.
This gives the boys an introductory understanding of how acids and alkalis react when mixed. From this the boys can start to formulate a further understanding of how neutralisation reactions may occur in everyday aspects of living, for example; farmers will add lime (an alkali) to neutralise acidic soils and a bee sting may be relieved and neutralised with baking soda.
The boys had a lot of fun comparing the findings to their charts and balancing the reactions with either the vinegar or the bicarbonate of soda!
