Final answer:
Sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda, is essential in baking for producing carbon dioxide and causing dough to rise. It is produced from sodium carbonate, water, and carbon dioxide, in a reaction that can be considered a Brønsted-Lowry acid-base process. This underlies the importance of chemical reactions in everyday cooking and baking processes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The systematic name for baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, a compound with the chemical formula NaHCO3. This substance plays a critical role in baking, as it reacts to form carbon dioxide, which helps dough and batter to rise. The reaction that forms sodium bicarbonate involves the addition of water and carbon dioxide to sodium carbonate (Na2CO3).
Baking soda is also involved in a key chemical reaction in baking powder when mixed with a solid acid like potassium hydrogen tartrate, resulting in carbon dioxide production. This reaction is essential to create the fluffiness in baked goods. Moreover, sodium bicarbonate can decompose upon heating to produce sodium carbonate, water, and carbon dioxide as shown in the reaction 2 NaHCO3(s) → Na2CO3 (s) + CO2(g) + H2O(l).
As for the question, the balanced equation for the formation of baking soda from sodium carbonate is:
Na2CO3 + H2O + CO2 → 2 NaHCO3
This reaction can be seen as a Brønsted-Lowry acid-base reaction, where a Brønsted-Lowry acid is a substance that can donate a proton (H+), and a Brønsted-Lowry base is a substance that can accept a proton.