Do you think that washing soda, Na2CO3, could be used for the same purpose as baking soda, NaHCO3? Would Na2CO3 react with HCl? How do you write the chemical equation for the reaction of NaHCO3 with HCl?

1 Answer
Jul 6, 2016

I would not put sodium carbonate in my cake!

Explanation:

NaHCO3(aq)+HCl(aq)NaCl(aq)+CO2(g)+H2O(l)

Sodium bicarbonate is commonly used as baking powder. (The commercial reagent is a mixture of stuff, including sodium bicarbonate, and possibly some sodium carbonate, but don't quote me.)

Of course sodium carbonate would speciate the same way:

Na2CO3(aq)+2HCl(aq)2NaCl(aq)+CO2(g)+H2O(g)

But I suspect that the cake you baked with washing soda would taste bitter.