Video Transcript
What are the products of the reaction between sodium carbonate and hydrochloric
acid?
In this question, we need to identify what products form when sodium carbonate reacts
with hydrochloric acid. Let’s begin by describing a generic chemical equation for the reaction of a carbonate
compound with an acid. A reaction between a carbonate and an acid generates a salt, carbon dioxide, and
water.
The reaction process is very distinctive. The reaction is relatively intense. Carbon dioxide bubbles rapidly begin to form. The salt and water also form a solution. This type of reaction also gives off some heat.
Let’s have a look at the products for the reaction between the sodium carbonate
compound and hydrochloric acid.
We know that two of the products will be carbon dioxide and water. We now need to find the chemical formula of the salt. Sodium carbonate has the chemical formula Na2CO3. And hydrochloric acid will have the chemical formula HCl. The salt produced will acquire its cation from the carbonate compound and its anion
from the acidic compound. So, the salt will contain sodium one plus cations and chloride one minus anions. For the compound to have an overall neutral charge, the chemical formula will be
NaCl. As a water-soluble salt, we assign it the state symbol aq for aqueous. The salt produced would be called sodium chloride.
Therefore, the products of the reaction between sodium carbonate and hydrochloric
acid are NaCl, CO2, and H2O.
