This Is a True Story; Can You Explain What Happened

Multiple Choice

This is a true story; can you explain what happened? Prior to a really important dinner party, the hostess discovered that her silverware was very tarnished. She needed a quick fix. She remembered reading that the tarnish (Ag₂S) would be removed if you immersed the silverware in a hot solution of baking soda (NaHCO₃) in a pan lined with aluminum foil. So she did, and so it was, but she noticed a bit of a rotten egg smell (H₂S) being produced. Metal/Metal ion silver/silver(I)
0) 799
Aluminum/aluminum(III) 1.677

A) Aluminum ions react with S^2, form an aluminum sulfide precipitate, and gaseous carbon dioxide is released.
B) Silver ions in the presence of the baking soda, (NaHCO₃) , oxidize the sulfide to elemental sulfur that attacks the aluminum foil, which produces the smelly aluminum sulfide.
C) The aluminum acts as a reducing agent for the silver(I) in the silver sulfide; then the bicarbonate ion protonates the sulfide ion that is released.
D) Aluminum is plated onto the silver surface, making it shiny again, and then the reaction of the bicarbonate with the aluminum oxide releases CO₂.
E) Silver in Ag₂S reduces the aluminum, becomes metallic silver in the process, and releases hydrogen sulfide, H₂S.