Talk:Sodium carbonate

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crystal form wrong?

I think that it's crystal form is wrong! in my chemestry kit it say that Sodium Carbonate is is Rhombic crystals.

Uses

stating uses for it would be helpful. like making tyedye shirts.

It is also use as an acidity regulator; but that's all I know. ^KILO-_LIMA 13:58, 26 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Soda ash is commonly used to raise the Ph in swimming pools and spas.

I think the staments in the artical concerning the usaes of Sodium Carbonate in photography are misleading and inaccurate. The primary use of Sodium carbonate in photography is in B&W film developers. It is (or was) commonly used as the alkali which is necessary to activate the developing agent.

Reactions

I'd like to ask: If it were heated, would it not transform to to carbon dioxide and sodium oxide?

Thats what i would have thought, but when i heated Sodium Bicarbonate until it decomposed into sodium carbonate then treated it with 12 molar HCl giving me something that ressembled Calcium Sulfate (plaster of paris). Any thoughts??

Heat sodium bicarbonate until it decomposes fully into sodium carbonate. Then heat it some more, see if it decomposes. THEN, if it does, put it in a solution of baker's ammonia ((NH₄)₂CO₃). If this makes it reek of ammonia, then you have put something basic in it, which would indicate that you put Na₂O in it. I'd try it myself, but I have improper heating devices.

Answers to reactions

Sodium bicarbonate decomposes to sodium carbonate, water and carbon dioxide on heating. It does not decompose any further under normal heating. Sodium bicarbonate is a weak base, sodium carbonate is a strongish base and will liberate ammonia from its salts.

Sodium oxide would react very exothermically with water to form sodium hydroxide.

Treating sodium carbonate with hydrochloric acid would produce a paste of sodium chloride if the concentrations were high enough. It has nothing to do with calcium sulfate.

Socksysquirrel 17:08, 27 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Also used for dyeing fabrics

Would any of you chemists be able to include some of this info on this page? http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/sodaash.shtml

Molecular diagram missing carbon

The molecule diagram shows three oxygen atoms, two sodium -- where's the carbon? (I understand where it is, but given the formula "Na2CO3" wouldn't it be better to have an explicit "C" in there?) — Johan the Ghost _seance 09:34, 30 August 2006 (UTC) / 12:59, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Chemists typically leave the "C" for carbon out of molecular diagrams, assuming that anyone who is bothering to look at these knows that when four bonds converge, and the atom isn't specifically stated, it's a carbon. Also, if you see one with less than four bonds, you can assume that enough hydrogens are on it to bring each carbon up to four bonds; just look at the diagram for butane. Cgirten 18:45, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Relationship to Leblanc process and Solvay process articles

I feel that the "Production" section of this article should be adapted to recognize the present state of the articles on the Leblanc process and the Solvay process. I'm thinking that the detailed descriptions of these processes should be curtailed in the present article, with more emphasis on the pros and cons of each process. In addition, this section should comment on the production method from which the name "soda ash" was derived: from the ashes of marine plants (barilla & kelp). The Kiefer article mentions that 100,000 Scotsmen were involved in this activity in 1700s!

Any comments?EAS 09:24, 21 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

MSDS

The MSDS link is broken, can someone add the correct one? dq 14:10, 30 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]