What exactly is Baking Soda?

Factual Questions
1

Seriously, are there baking soda mines in New Mexico? Is it some weird chemical combination? Does it have a place on the periodic table?

2

Arm and Hammer

It’s a compound, not an element, so it’s on the periodic chart in serveral places, Sodium, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Carbon.

3

Actually, Inky posted the link to sodium carbonate monohydrate, which is different. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate
Same Web Site, Different page
http://www.ahperformance.com/products/sobi.html

Jake

4

Don’t blame Inky for my bad post.

5

Oops, make that “Padeye posted the link to…”

And I now realize that the site doesn’t answer your “where does it come from?” question, so try here for some very brief info:
http://www.solvay.com/products/prodalk2.htm

Jake

6

Slightly tangential, but still…

What’s the difference between baking soda and baking powder?

7

Shaky Jake’s link isn’t all that clear to me. Let me elucidate. Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO[sub]3[/sub])is made by passing carbon dioxide (CO[sub]2[/sub]) through a solution of soda ash (sodium carbonate, Na[sub]2[/sub]CO[sub]3[/sub]). Most soda ash is now made using the Solvay process. As the link says, “It is made using common salt, ammonia, carbon dioxide and lime.” There are natural deposits of soda ash, especially in California and Wyoming, but they are no longer commercially very important. As far as I know there are no natural deposits of sodium bicarbonate itself.