Sodium Carbonate is an alkaline inorganic compound. There are many chemicals and compounds present in our surroundings that have different physical and chemical characteristics as well as different uses. All the things that we see around us are made up of certain compounds.

In this article, we will learn about Sodium Carbonate including its common name, sodium carbonate formula, molar mass, etc. Other than these things, we will also learn, how sodium carbonate is prepared in laboratories (synthesis of sodium carbonate), and the chemical and physical properties of sodium carbonate.

What is Sodium Carbonate?

Sodium Carbonate is an ionic and inorganic compound as it contains no hydrocarbons. As we know sodium hydroxide is corrosive in nature, and this salt of sodium is not corrosive and thus can be safely handled. Chemically sodium carbonate is considered to be a disodium salt of carbonic acid. It exists in powder form and is white. It acts as a strong base in many reactions. In this article, we shall discuss sodium carbonate in detail.

Sodium Carbonate Common Name

Sodium carbonate is commonly known as soda ash, washing soda, or soda crystals as it is used in the manufacture of washing powder, soap, and detergents.

Sodium Carbonate Chemical Formula

Sodium Carbonate is an ionic compound and carries a net zero charge and it’s structure is illustrated in the following heading. As we can see in the below diagram, it consists of 2 Sodium atoms (Na), 1 Carbon atom (C), and 3 Oxygen atoms (O). Thus sodium carbonate has a chemical formula of Na₂CO₃.

Sodium Carbonate Molecular Structure

The Carbon atom forms a covalent bond with the three oxygen atoms. One of the oxygen atoms is attached through a double bond whereas two oxygen atoms are attached through single bonds and carry a charge of -1 which result in the formation of a carbonate ion with a net charge of -2. This charge of -2 is balanced by ionic bond formation with Na ions which carry a charge of +1 each and thus balance the -2 charge. Thus net charge on the molecule comes out to be zero.

Molar Mass of Sodium Carbonate

We know that the molar mass of any compound is the sum of the product of the molar masses of the constituent atoms and their number present in a molecule. So, the molar mass of Na₂CO₃ will be equal to the sum of the molar mass of two Na atoms, one Carbon atom, and three oxygen atoms.

Molar mass of Na = 23 g/mol

Molar mass of C = 12 g/mol

Molar mass of O = 16 g/mol

Thus, molar mass of Na₂CO₃ = 2 × Molar mass of Na + Molar mass of C + 3 × Molar mass of O

⇒ Molar mass of Na₂CO₃ = 2 × 23 + 12 + 3 × 16

⇒ Molar mass of Na₂CO₃ = 46 + 12 + 48

⇒ Molar mass of Na₂CO₃ = 106 g/mol

Anhydrous Sodium Carbonate

Sodium carbonate generally exists in hydrous form with 10 molecules of water of crystallization. It has a formula Na₂CO₃.10H₂O. When this hydrous sodium carbonate is strongly heated, the water of crystallization is lost and we are left with only sodium carbonate. This is known as sodium carbonate anhydrous.

Reaction of Sodium Carbonate with Hydrochloric Acid

• Reaction of Sodium carbonate with Hydrochloric acid gives Sodium chloride salt and Sodium hydrogen carbonate.
• It is an acid-base reaction where sodium carbonate acts as a base while hydrochloric acid is an acid that leads to the formation of a salt. This reaction is called the Neutralisation reaction.

Sodium Carbonate and HCl forms,

Na₂CO₃ + HCl → NaCl + H₂O + CO₂

Sodium Carbonate Vs Sodium Bicarbonate

There are some key differences between sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate, some of these differences are listed in the following table: