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Does vinegar make a bone flexible?

Updated: 8/10/2023
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13y ago

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Vinegar affects bone density on a couple of fronts. First off is that it makes otherwise "insoluble" calcium soluble. That makes it able to be absorbed by the body. This can be witnessed in the old high school experiment where you dissolve eggshells in vinegar. The reaction is:

CaCO3 + 2CH3COO -> Ca(CH3COO)2 + H2O +CO2

Once paired with vinegar, the calcium takes on the form of calcium acetate, which is soluble, so the calcium is absorbed and able to be utilized by bone.

A second, lesser known reason, is that the main acid in vinegar, acetic acid, lowers the amount of phosphorus the body can absorb. Phosphorus is a strong acid from meats and beans and grains unlike the weak acid of vinegar. Normally a certain amount of calcium will cleave to a certain amount of phosphorus and they will cancel each other out. When vinegar gets involved, less calcium is needed to cancel out a greater proportion of phosphorus and therefore less phosphorus is absorbed. If too much phosphorus came through, calcium would have been taken from bone to neutralize it.

This is one of the reasons a children's bones grow so rapidly. Children have a high ratio of good bacteria in their colon that synthesize acetic, as well as lactic, and other acids from the fiber or lactose that is eaten. As we grow older we don't eat the right foods to support these guys. On a side note, that is one of the reasons Honey is good for bones as well. It specifically feeds these guys and keeps them cranking out acetic acid.

Finally, while an acid, vinegar is like fruit in that the end product is not an acid at all. Once all of these reactions take place, the end products as you can see above are water and CO2. We breath out the CO2 into the air and end up with a net positive of base.

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6y ago
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13y ago

Yes it does. Vinegar reduces the amount of calcium in the bone (the calcium makes the bone hard) but leaves the collagen, which makes the bone flexible and feel like rubber. If you would like to see for yourself, put an uncooked chicken bone (wishbones or wings work well but almost any chicken bone will do) in vinegar so that it is completely covered. Leave it for about a week (or longer if you like but that is the necessary amount of time) and feel it daily.

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14y ago

The acetic acid in the vinegar attacks the calcium carbonate of the bones. Overtime the calcium in the bones depletes, thereby, weaken the bones.

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11y ago

beacause it can

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Q: Does vinegar make a bone flexible?
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Related questions

Which liquid will make a chicken bone more flexible?

lemon juice and vinegar


What happens when you put a chicken bone in vinegar?

When you soak bones in vinegar what will happen is that the chicken bone will weaken and the bone will become more flexible. So after soaking the chicken bone into vinegar for a week the bone will be so flexible that it will be able to bend. This is a great science fair project also.


Why does a chicken bone gets flexible if you put it in vinegar?

The acid in the vinegar dissolves out the calcium in the chicken bone. (Calcium is most of the reason that bones are hard.)


What happens if you put bone in water with vinegar?

The bone will lose some of its calcium and be slightly more flexible.


What does the vinegar contain that makes the bone so flexible that the water doesn't?

Acid


Can the bone be bent after baking it in the oven?

No, but they will become flexible if they're soaked in vinegar.


If the calcium salts of bone are removed will the bone be highly flexible?

YES! You can actually do this experiment with a chicken bone. Put it in a jar of vinegar for a few days (sealed). Take it out and bend it! Cool, huh?


Why does the chicken bone become flexible when put in vineger?

Vinegar breaks down the calcium in bones. However, it does not break down the collagen, which causes bones to be flexible like rubber when submerged in vinegar for some amount of time.


How will the acidity of the vinegar affect the flexibility of a chicken bone?

The vinegar (weak acetic acid) will de-calcify (remove the calcium) from the bone - thus rendering it flexible...easy to perform yourself. Best to clean the bone well before trying, change vinegar solution each day.


Why hard bone becomes flexible when immersed in vinegar solution for a while?

Because they have a hard outer shell with a softer interior.


What is soft and flexible bone matter?

soft and flexible bone matterSoft and flexible bone matter is flexible bone matter. This is when a person's bones are easy to break.


How will a bone soak in vinegar look like?

The combination of vinegar and heat causes the calcium and collagen in the bone to break down. this makes the bone flexible and spongy like cartilage. the purpose of the experiment is to help you understand the difference between bone and cartilage and why they are different. The experiment should also be done with two separate chicken bones - one soaked in vinegar which breaks down the calcium leaving it flexible or rubbery; the other is baked which destroys the collagen leaving it brittle.