High School

Why shouldn't the color change of soda lime be used to indicate how exhausted a CO2 container is?

Answer :

Final answer:

Soda lime's color change is not a reliable method for determining CO2 exhaustion because it's qualitative and not proportional to the actual CO2 content, and external factors like temperature can affect CO2 behavior.

Explanation:

The color change of soda lime is not a reliable indicator of how exhausted a CO2 container is because it does not provide precise information about the actual amount of carbon dioxide present. Soda lime may change color as it reacts with CO2, but this change is qualitative rather than quantitative.

Additionally, the color change does not necessarily correlate with the depletion level of CO2. Moreover, certain factors such as temperature can influence the amount of CO2 that can be dissolved in a liquid, as seen when comparing soda on a cool day to a hot day.

The critical temperature of carbon dioxide is a concept explaining why CO2 behaves differently under various temperature conditions, particularly affecting its solubility and state of matter within a container, like a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher or a soda can.