Sodium carbonate

Sodium carbonate (also known as washing soda, soda ash, sal soda, and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula Na₂CO₃ and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odorless, water-soluble salts that yield alkaline solutions in water. Historically, it was extracted from the ashes of plants grown in sodium-rich soils, and because the ashes of these sodium-rich plants were noticeably different from ashes of wood (once used to produce potash), sodium carbonate became known as "soda ash". It is produced in large quantities from sodium chloride and limestone by the Solvay process, as well as by carbonating sodium hydroxide which is made using the chloralkali process.

Sodium carbonate is obtained as three hydrates and as the anhydrous salt:

The decahydrate is formed from water solutions crystallizing in the temperature range −2.1 to +32.0 °C, the heptahydrate in the narrow range 32.0 to 35.4 °C and above this temperature the monohydrate forms. In dry air the decahydrate and heptahydrate lose water to give the monohydrate. Other hydrates have been reported, e.g. with 2.5 units of water per sodium carbonate unit ("Penta hemihydrate").

Sodium carbonate decahydrate (Na₂CO₃·10H₂O), also known as washing soda, is the most common hydrate of sodium carbonate containing 10 molecules of water of crystallization. Soda ash is dissolved in water and crystallized to get washing soda.

It is one of the few metal carbonates that is soluble in water.

Some common applications of sodium carbonate include:

Sodium carbonate serves as a flux for silica (SiO₂, melting point 1,713 °C), lowering the melting point of the mixture to something achievable without special materials. This "soda glass" is mildly water-soluble, so some calcium carbonate is added to the melt mixture to make the glass insoluble. Bottle and window glass ("soda–lime glass" with transition temperature ~570 °C) is made by melting such mixtures of sodium carbonate, calcium carbonate, and silica sand (silicon dioxide (SiO₂)). When these materials are heated, the carbonates release carbon dioxide. In this way, sodium carbonate is a source of sodium oxide. Soda–lime glass has been the most common form of glass for centuries. It is also a key input for tableware glass manufacturing.

Hard water usually contains calcium or magnesium ions. Sodium carbonate is used for removing these ions and replacing them with sodium ions.