Sodium carbonate, commonly known as Soda ash, is an inorganic chemical compound. It is extracted from Trona, a double-salt containing Sodium hydrogen carbonate and sodium carbonate. It is made after a series of processes where evaporation of salty water takes place at the side of lakes.

It is often called washing soda, the most significant of all basic heavy chemicals. Sodium carbonate is soluble in water. Sodium carbonate’s great advantage over sodium hydroxide is that sodium carbonate is non-corrosive. Therefore, it is safer to handle.

 What are the Uses of Sodium Carbonate?

There are various uses of Sodium Carbonate. Some of them are as follows:

1. Sodium Carbonate is used to make borax, sodium phosphate, water glass, and many other sodium compounds
2. Sodium is used as a wetting agent in the brick manufacturing industry
3. For the making of soaps, paper, and detergent, sodium carbonate is used
4. Sodium carbonate is a forming and abrasive agent for making toothpaste
5. Hard water consists of magnesium and calcium ions precipitated By carbonate. In this situation, sodium carbonate is used as a water softener
6. Sodium carbonate is used as a pH modifier
7. To standardise the acids, it is used as a laboratory reagent and analytical reagent
8. Sodium carbonate is used to remove the impurities from the molten metals
9. Sodium is also used to make Titanium metals from Titanium Tetrachloride
10. Sodium can be beneficial in separating water from any liquid solution, which is not an easy task but can be done with the help of sodium when it is combined with benzophenone.

Formation of Sodium Carbonate

There are some steps for the formation of sodium carbonate. They are as follows:

1. In the first step, sodium chloride reacts with carbon dioxide, water, and ammonia that forms Sodium Bicarbonate.

NaCl+H2O+CO2+NH3→NH4Cl+NaHCO3

2. In the next step, sodium bicarbonate decomposes into sodium carbonate

2 NaHCO3 → Na2CO3 + H2O + CO2

Note: Ionic products of [Na+] x [HCO3] > ksp of NaHCO3

But KHCO3 can not be prepared by the Solvay process as sodium carbonate is soluble in water.

Properties of essential compounds – sodium carbonate

There are some physical and chemical properties of Important compounds- Sodium Carbonate. They are listed below:

The physical properties of sodium carbonate are as follows:

• The sodium carbonate formula is Na2CO3
• Sodium carbonate molecular weight is 105.9888g/mol, and Sodium carbonate density is 2.54g/cm3
• The boiling point of sodium carbonate is 160℃, while its melting point is 851℃
• Sodium carbonate is odourless
• Sodium carbonate is a white crystalline solid
• Sodium carbonate is soluble in water.

The chemical properties of sodium carbonate are as follows:

• Reaction with dilute HCl –

Na2CO3 + 2HCl dil.→ 2NaCl + CO2+  H2O

• With water and carbon dioxide (for preparation of sodium bicarbonate)–

Na2CO3 (saturated) + H2O + CO2 → 2NaHCO3 

• Reaction with hydrogen fluoride (diluted)

Na2CO3 + 2HF→ 2NaF + H2O + CO2

• When exposed to the air:

NaCO3•10H2O→Na2CO3•H2O+9H2O

Hence, washing soda loses weight on exposure to air.

• Heating effect

NaCO3•10H2O→Na2CO3•H2O+9H2O

At 375K

NaCO3•10H2O→Na2CO3+H2O

More than 375K

Sodium Carbonate Structure

Each molecule of sodium carbonate comprises two sodium atoms, 1 carbon atom, and three oxygen atoms. It is an ionic compound that, on dissociation, gives 2 sodium cations (Na+) and 1 carbonate anion (CO3-2).

Equation of the reaction

H2CO3 (Carbonic acid) is a weak acid, while 2NaOH (sodium hydroxide) is a powerful base. Thus, sodium carbonate(Na2CO3) is elicited from a weak acid and a powerful base. Sodium carbonate is a basic salt.

H2CO3 + 2NaOH → Na2CO3 + 2H2O

Conclusion

Sodium carbonate is an organic chemical compound known as soda Ash. Sodium carbonate has various uses in daily life and the making of different industrial products. It has some physical and chemical properties like reaction with dilute HCl or its boiling and melting point. Sodium Carbonate is used to make borax, sodium phosphate, water glass, and many other sodium compounds. It is often called washing soda, the most significant of all basic heavy chemicals. Sodium carbonate is soluble in water. Sodium carbonate’s great advantage over sodium hydroxide is that sodium carbonate is non-corrosive; therefore, it is safer to handle.