SO, I DIDN'T WANT TO WAIT BEFORE I DID MY FANCY EXPERIMENT UNDER THE CAMERA

I threw a piece of the expanded shale into a glass with some table vinegar (5% acetic acid). It looks like I have bubbly soda in the cup now. There is clearly a neutralization reaction. One piece starting floating after a few seconds from the bubbles it's producing.

In my experiment I will use 10.8 molal hydrochloric acid. It will react VERY quickly and VERY violently and will be VERY cool, but this at least answers our question.



Stay tuned for the eye burning, skin corroding, media melting episode!