Sodium bicarbonate vs Sodium carbonate: what is the difference?
Sodium bicarbonate is baking soda, mildly alkaline and edible, while sodium carbonate is washing soda, strongly alkaline and used for laundry and grease.
Sources and notes
- The sentence under the titlefrom sourceMoleculeFinder comparison notesThe pair's answer line.
- The two drawingscomputedMoleculeFinder rule (RDKit MCS)Drawn the same way round on the skeleton they share. Aligned; 0 atoms differ, none to mark.
- Structural similaritycomputedRDKit Morgan/Tanimoto0.67 of 1, a Morgan fingerprint Tanimoto coefficient. It measures shape, not effect.
Side by side
| Sodium bicarbonate | Sodium carbonate | |
|---|---|---|
| Molecular weightCalculated PubChem | 84.01 g/molCHNaO3 | 105.99 g/molCNa2O3 |
| Hydrogen-bond donorsCalculated PubChem | 1 | 0 |
| Where each turns upEditorial MoleculeFinder food and product lists |
|
|
| FamilyEditorial MoleculeFinder curated | Other | Inorganic compounds |
| Everyday groupEditorial MoleculeFinder curated | Food & flavor | Everyday chemistry |
| Hazard labelReported ECHA, EU CLP Regulation, Safe Work Australia, HSDB via PubChem | Not recorded | Danger |
| The supplier-filed hazard label's signal word, not a statement about ordinary use. | ||
| Oral LD50Measured HSDB via PubChem | 4,220 mg/kgpure sodium bicarbonate, rat, oral | 2,800 mg/kgpure sodium carbonate, rat, oral |
| A single acute animal measure. It ranks nothing about human safety. | ||
Sources and notes
- Molecular weightcomputedPubChemComputed from the structure; the formula is under each weight.
- Hydrogen-bond donorscomputedPubChemThe hydrogens on nitrogen or oxygen that each molecule can lend to a hydrogen bond, counted from its structure.
- Where each turns upfrom sourceMoleculeFinder food and product listsEach amount is an editorial figure from our lists, not a measurement of any one product. Each mark is set by hand on the list, never inferred.
- Familyfrom sourceMoleculeFinder curated
- Everyday groupfrom sourceMoleculeFinder curated
- Hazard labelfrom sourceECHA, EU CLP Regulation, Safe Work Australia, HSDB via PubChem
- Oral LD50from sourceHSDB via PubChem
- ECHAfrom sourceAttributionSource: European Chemicals Agency, echa.europa.eu.
- EU CLP Regulationfrom sourceAttributionSource: EUR-Lex, Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, © European Union.
- Safe Work Australiafrom sourceAttributionSource: Safe Work Australia, Hazardous Chemical Information System, © Commonwealth of Australia, CC BY 4.0.
- Identifiersfrom sourcePubChemPubChem CID 516892 (Sodium bicarbonate) and 10340 (Sodium carbonate).
In more detail
Baking soda and washing soda are both sodium salts of carbonic acid, NaHCO3 against Na2CO3: washing soda has a second sodium where baking soda keeps a hydrogen, and that makes all the difference to how alkaline they are. Sodium bicarbonate is mildly alkaline and safe to eat, which is why it leavens cake and settles indigestion. Sodium carbonate is strongly alkaline, will irritate skin, and is used to soften laundry water and cut grease. Heating baking soda in an oven converts it into washing soda, releasing carbon dioxide and water, which is the same reaction that raises a cake. In baking, the carbon dioxide is the point; in cleaning, the alkalinity is.
Sources and notes
- The paragraphfrom sourceMoleculeFinder comparison notes
Questions
- What is the difference between Sodium bicarbonate and Sodium carbonate?
- Sodium bicarbonate is baking soda, mildly alkaline and edible, while sodium carbonate is washing soda, strongly alkaline and used for laundry and grease.
- Is Sodium bicarbonate bigger than Sodium carbonate?
- Sodium carbonate is the heavier molecule, 105.99 g/mol against 84.01 g/mol for Sodium bicarbonate. Sodium bicarbonate is CHNaO3 and Sodium carbonate is CNa2O3.
- Which has the lower reported LD50, Sodium bicarbonate or Sodium carbonate?
- Sodium carbonate, at 2,800 mg/kg (oral, rat), against 4,220 mg/kg (oral, rat) for Sodium bicarbonate. An LD50 is one acute animal measurement, and the two here were not necessarily measured in the same species, so it is a data point rather than a ranking of how dangerous either is to a person.
Sources and notes
- The answersfrom sourceMoleculeFinderThe first is the pair's answer line; the others are read off the table above.