Question

What is the chemical name of quicklime?
A. Calcium oxide
B. Calcium hydroxide
C. Calcium carbonate
D. Calcium dioxide

Answer 1

Hint: Quick lime is also known as burnt lime. It is a compound of calcium. It is a white solid at room temperature.

Complete step by step answer:
The chemical name of quick lime is Calcium oxide. It is also known as burnt lime. It is a white crystalline solid at room temperature. It is alkaline in nature. The term ‘lime’ marks calcium containing inorganic materials. Calcium oxide that exists processing without reacting in building products like cement is called free lime. It is usually prepared by the thermal decomposition of limestone which contains calcium carbonate (\[CaC{O_3}\]). Limestone is heated above 1098K to liberate carbon dioxide, leaving behind quick-lime. This process is known as calcination.
The chemical expression depicting the reaction is:
\[CaC{O_3} \to CaO + C{O_2}\]

Calcium oxide is not stable. Thus, when it is cooled, it reacts with carbon dioxide spontaneously from the air. Calcium oxide is inexpensive.

Hence, the correct answer is (A) Calcium oxide.

Additional information:
Some uses of Calcium oxide (quick lime) are:
It is majorly used in the basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS) process
Quick lime can noticeably increase the load carrying capacity of clay-containing soils.
Quick lime is also used to produce glass and other organic chemicals.
Quick lime also produces heat when it reacts with water. The reaction is exothermic.
\[CaO + {H_2}O \to Ca{(OH)_2}\,\] ;

Note: Don’t confuse quick lime with slaked lime. Quick lime is calcium oxide (CaO) while slaked lime is calcium hydroxide (\[Ca{(OH)_2}\]).