What is sodium carbonate?
Sodium carbonate is an inorganic chemical compound. This substance is what is known as soda ash.
Soda ash is extracted from Trona. Trona is a double salt that contains sodium carbonate and sodium hydrogen carbonate, which is formed as a result of a series of evaporation processes in lakes.
Sodium carbonate, often called baking soda or soda ash, is the most important heavy chemical.
Its big advantage over sodium hydroxide is that it is not corrosive and therefore safer to work with.
Sodium carbonate formula
🔶🔸 Properties of sodium carbonate - Na2CO3
Molecular weight / molar mass 105.9888 g/mol
Density 2.54 g / cm³
Boiling point 1600 degrees Celsius
Melting point 851 degrees Celsius
Chemical properties of sodium carbonate
1. Anhydrous sodium carbonate is stable to heat. It melts at 852°C without decomposition.
2. Aqueous solutions of sodium carbonate are mildly alkaline due to hydrolysis that releases OH– (aq) ions.
Na2CO3 (s) + 2H2O (l) → H2CO3 (aq) + 2Na + (aq) + 2OH– (aq)
3. Aqueous solutions of sodium carbonate absorb carbon dioxide from the air forming sodium hydrogen carbonate.
Na2CO3 (aq) + H2O + CO2 (g) N 2NaHCO3 (aq)
4- Sodium carbonate reacts with acids such as weak vegetable acids such as lime water which releases carbon dioxide.
The structure of sodium carbonate
The structure of sodium carbonate molecules is shown below. It can be noted that each sodium carbonate molecule contains 2 sodium atoms, 3 oxygen atoms and one carbon atom.
Each sodium cation has a charge of +1, while the polyatomic carbonate anion has a net charge of -2. Therefore, sodium carbonate is a molecule with a neutral charge.
The use of sodium carbonate (Na2CO3)
The main applications of sodium carbonate are in the production of chemicals.
It is used in making detergent, soap, paper.
It is also used in making water glass (sodium silicate), borax, sodium phosphate and many other sodium compounds.
It is used as a wetting agent in the brick industry
It is used as a foaming agent in toothpaste
It is used as a pH modifier
It is used as a water softener - hard water that is precipitated from magnesium and calcium ions formed by carbonate.
It is used as a laboratory reagent for standardizing acids and as an analytical reagent.
What is the common name of sodium carbonate?
The inorganic compound with the formula Na2CO3 is sodium carbonate, Na2CO3, which is also known as baking soda, soda ash, and soda crystals.
Where is sodium carbonate found?
This material is discovered in large natural deposits and mined in Wyoming.
It is also recovered from lake salt water (with other chemicals).