When a piece of marble, Primarily calcium carbonate, is dropped into hydrochloric acid, a few bubbles form. An equal mass of powdered marble, however, reacts rapidly, forming many gas bubbles why?

A. The marble powder has a coating of oxygen atoms from the air, which causes the bubbles.

B. The marble powder has much more surface area, so the acid comes in to contact with more calcium carbonate.

C. The marble powder has more atoms then the solid marble, so the powder reaction proceeds faster.

D. The marble powder has a different molecular structure that is more reactive that a solid piece of marble

When marble is turned into a powder, the individual grains of powder overall have a larger surface area. This means that they can be reacted with from all sides. In contrast, a large chunk of marble would have a lot of molecules inside that would be unable to react because they are stuck inside between large amounts of calcium carbonate.

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