Baking soda is a common name for sodium hydrogen carbonate or NaHCO 3(s) . It is a
useful compound that can be found in many everyday products. The Athenium Baking SodaCompany recently started producing sodium bicarbonate using a method that reacts crystalline
ammonium hydrogen carbonate with brine, which contains high concentrations of sodium
chloride as well as traces of potassium chloride, lithium chloride, and calcium chloride that may
be present in the dry residue. Because of this, the Athenium Baking Soda Company wants to
hire quality control scientists to test for contaminants in their baking soda. To do this, the
Athenium Baking Soda Company has decided that applicants compete to analyze the
composition and purity of baking soda samples. The purpose of this experiment is to analyze the
composition of the baking soda using two different methods to figure out the percentage of
NaHCO 3 in the baking soda manufacturers and by determining the impurities present in the sample.
This experiment will enable our team to use what we learned in the Thermal Gravimetric
Analysis Lab (Experiment 4), Emission Analysis of Aqueous Solutions of Groups IA and IIA
Metal Salts Lab (Experiment 10), and Determination of the Concentration of Acetic Acid in
Vinegar Lab (Experiment 12). The methods learned in these previous experiments will be used
except with different reagents. By combining the methods learned into one experiment, the
experiment reinforces knowledge as well as provides a better understanding of chemistry as a
science.
The baking soda price will be analyzed for metal ion contaminants with a MeasureNet
spectrophotometer using emission spectroscopy. Spectroscopy is best explained as a measure of
molecular energy levels which are most commonly expressed in the form of emissions or
absorptions.
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