Baking soda and baking powder aren’t the same thingįreisinger explains that baking soda isn’t the same thing as baking powder. Speaking of the kitchen, let’s move on to the difference between baking soda and baking powder. As it’s less dangerous, baking soda is used more frequently in the kitchen. This makes it easy to remove burnt-on stains, for example. The resulting base helps with cleaning because it makes fats water-soluble or «saponifies» them. Simply put, the entire statement above means that cleaning with washing soda, while more effective, is also riskier and more aggressive. This means that the solution becomes more strongly alkaline than is the case with baking soda. Freisinger goes on to say that a fair amount of HCO3 – and therefore, lots of OH is formed. For lay people: it’s not acidic enough – aha! So, there we have it – the acid-base behaviour mentioned before. Freisinger sends me this handwritten equation:Īccording to Freisinger, there’s no subsequent reaction to the carbonic acid here because the solution is too alkaline.

An ion is a charged atom or molecule, while protons are positively charged particles. In other words, because of the instability of the carbonic acid, what’s formed is mostly carbon dioxide and water.» I briefly need to look this up. «If you mix baking soda with water, the hydrogencarbonate ions form a proton from the water and become carbonic acid. «Natron» has the chemical formula NaHCO₃, while «soda’s» is Na₂CO₃.įreisinger explains that the difference between «Natron» (baking soda) and «soda» (washing soda) lies in the acidic-base behaviour of the carbonate. «Soda», on the other hand, is called sodium carbonate (so, without the «bi» in the middle). Careful though, an English speaker’s «baking soda» and a German speaker’s «soda» are not the same thing.Ĭhemists refer to «Natron» as sodium hydrocarbonate or sodium bicarbonate. She later compares the German speaker’s «soda» with baking powder and with the product known in English-speaking countries as baking soda. The distinction is important – washing soda is the more aggressive of the two.

Guide Everything you can do with baking soda (spoiler: a lot)įirst, Professor Freisinger tells me what the difference is between baking soda and washing soda.

Natron powder