Question

What happens when acetic acid is treated with \[{\text{Zn}}\] metal?

Answer 1

Hint: When metal reacts with acid then a colorless gas is evolved. It is an inflammable gas and burns with a pop up sound. The respective acetate salt is formed of zinc metal.

Complete step-by-step answer: Acetic acid is \[{\text{C}}{{\text{H}}_3}{\text{COOH}}\] and \[{\text{Zn}}\] is zinc metal.
When zinc metal reacts with acetic acid, then hydrogen gas is evolved and zinc acetate is formed. The reaction occurs as follow:
\[{\text{Zn}} + {\text{C}}{{\text{H}}_3}{\text{COOH}} \to {\text{Zn}}{\left( {{\text{C}}{{\text{H}}_3}{\text{COO}}} \right)_2} + {{\text{H}}_2}\]

Additional information: Acetic acid is a weak acid that does not completely dissociate as the mineral acids. It is one of the most important carboxylic acids. The IUPAC name of acetic acid is ethanoic acid. Vinegar is \[4\% \]acetic acid by volume. It has a sour taste and a pungent smell.
Zinc is a d block element or transition metal element. It belongs to 3d series and has group number 12. The atomic number of zinc is 30. The presence of a small amount of zinc is necessary in the human body for proper functioning. Hence it is an essential trace mineral. Hydrogen is the first element of the periodic table and has atomic number and mass number equal to 1. It is the lightest element in the periodic table. It is colourless, odorless, non-toxic and tasteless.

Note: Mostly, transition metal or d block metals, does not react with acid to give hydrogen gas. Zinc no doubt is a transition metal element but its properties do not match with the d block elements. So, just like the s or p block element it reacts with acid to liberate hydrogen gas.