What Baking powder is doing in your cake

Aubrey Kember
SCH3U
Nick, Connor, Elena
Due: 5/16/2023
Lab Write-Up
Problem: (Purpose/Question)
The purpose of this lab is to find out what decomposition reaction occurs when Sodium
Bicarbonate is heated.

Background Information:

Development of baking powder - national historic chemical landmark. American Chemical

Society. (n.d.). Retrieved May 5, 2023, from
https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/bakingpowder.html#:~:text=In
%20the%20mid%2D19th%20century,and%20later%20called%20baking%20powder.

1)

Baking powder, the ingredient used to rise, was developed the same way until 1830 when bakers
started to add Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda) and sour milk to make bread rise better.
The addition of sour milk resulted in lightness of the baking bread. But adding sour milk to
the dough presented a problem with the chemical reaction. It had a specific degree of
acidity in the sour milk, this resulted in the rising of the baking soda in the bread being
very unpredictable. Then bakers started introducing cream tartar which fixed the problem
of unpredictability and offered bakers better and more predictable results.

There were 2 major problems with this, the 2 chemicals cream tartar and Sodium bicarbonate
were both very expensive and hard to get your hands on. The other problem was that the 2
chemicals have to be separated due to the risk of premature reactions. To solve these
problems Eben Horsford a German chemist suggested replacing the cream tartar with
calcium acid phosphate. This fixed the problem but added another major problem of the
bread being too dry due to water being the beginner in the reaction process. Horsford
solved this problem by drying the ingredients sufficiently and adding cornstarch to the
mixture. Eben Horsford is considered the founding father of baking powder because he
was the one to implement all 3 key elements calcium acid phosphate, sodium bicarbonate,
and cornstarch to create baking powder.
2)

1) 4NaHCO3 -> 2Na2CO3 + 2H2O + 2CO + O2

2) 6NaHCO3 -> 3Na2CO3 + 3H2O + 3CO2
3) 4NaHCO3 -> 2Na2O + 4CO2 + 2H2O
4) 4NaHCO3 -> 2Na2C2O4 + 2H2O + O2

Chemstuff, C. (2013, February 7). Tests for gases. Chemstuff. https://chemstuff.co.uk/analytical-

chemistry/tests-for-gases/

To test for presence of oxygen:

Light a wooden splint and allow it to burn for a few seconds until it glows. Blow out the flame to
create a glowing ember on the end of the splint. Place the glowing splint into the gas you
want to test. If the gas is oxygen, the splint will immediately burst back into flame.

To test for presence of Carbon Dioxide:

Add a small amount of limewater (calcium hydroxide solution) to a test tube. Bubble the gas you
want to test through the limewater. If the gas is carbon dioxide, the limewater will turn
milky or cloudy.

To test for presence of water:

Hold a piece of cobalt chloride paper up to the gas you want to test. If the paper turns from blue
to pink, water is present.

To test for presence of hydrogen:

Hold a lighted splint near the gas you want to test. If the gas is hydrogen, it will ignite with a
popping sound when it comes into contact with the flame.

Prediction
mNaHCO3 = 3.1g MNaHCO3= 84.01g
1) 4NaHCO3 -> 2Na2CO3 + 2H2O + 2CO + O2
1𝑚𝑜𝑙
nNaHCO3 = 3.1g x = 0.03690 mol NaHCO3
84.01𝑔
3 𝑁𝑎2 𝐶𝑂 3
nNa2CO3 =0.03690 mol NaHCO3 x = 0.01845 mol Na2CO3
6 𝑁𝑎𝐻𝐶𝑂 3
105.99𝑔
mNa2CO3 = 0.01845 mol Na2CO3 x = 1.9555g Na2CO3
1𝑚𝑜𝑙
Therefore 2.00g of Na2CO3 solid would form
2)6NaHCO3 -> 3Na2CO3 + 3H2O + 3CO2
1𝑚𝑜𝑙
nNaHCO3 = 3.1g x = 0.03690 mol NaHCO3
84.01𝑔
3 𝑁𝑎2 𝐶𝑂 3
nNa2CO3 =0.03690 mol NaHCO3 x = 0.01845 mol Na2CO3
6 𝑁𝑎𝐻𝐶𝑂 3
105.99𝑔
mNa2CO3 = 0.01845 mol Na2CO3 x = 1.9555g Na2CO3
1𝑚𝑜𝑙
Therefore 2.00g of Na2CO3 solid would form
3) 4NaHCO3 -> 2Na2O + 4CO2 + 2H2O
1𝑚𝑜𝑙
nNaHCO3 = 3.1g x = 0.03690 mol NaHCO3
84.01𝑔
2 𝑁𝑎 2 𝑂
nNa2O =0.03690 mol NaHCO3 x = 0.01845 mol Na2O
4 𝑁𝑎𝐻𝐶𝑂 3
61.98 𝑔
mNa2O = 0.01845 mol Na2O x = 1.14353g Na2O
1 𝑚𝑜𝑙
Therefore 1.10g of Na2O solid would form
4) 4NaHCO3 -> 2Na2C2O4 + 2H2O + O2
1𝑚𝑜𝑙
nNaHCO3 = 3.10g x = 0.03690 mol NaHCO3
84.01𝑔
2 𝑁𝑎2 𝐶 2𝑂 4
nNa2C2O4 = 0.03690 mol NaHCO3 x = 0.01845 mol Na2C2O4
4 𝑁𝑎𝐻𝐶𝑂 3
134 𝑔
mNa2C2O4 = 0.01845 mol Na2C2O4 x = 2.4723g
1𝑚𝑜𝑙
Therefore 2.50g of Na2C2O4 solid would form
According to the calculations equations 1 and 2 will form 2.00g of solid NaCO3, equation 3 will
form 1.10g of solid Na2O and for equation 4, 2.50g of solid Na2C2O4will form.

Materials
 Safety goggles and lab coat
 Lab apron
 Heat-resistant test tube
 Balance
 Bunsen burner
 Retort stand with test tube holder
 Scoopula
 Test-tube rack
 Wooden splint
 Sodium hydrogen carbonate
 Limewater

Procedure
Refer to Sheet for Procedure

Result
Table 1 mass compounds
Object Mass of Sodium Mass
Bicarbonate
Test tube 0 17.87g
Sodium hydrogen 3.1g 20.97g
Carbonate
Test tube cooled 1 2.26g 20.13g
Test tube cooled 2 2.13g 20.00g
Test tube cooled 3 2.05g 19.92g
Test tube cooled 4 2.01g 19.88g
Test tube cooled 5 1.95g 19.82g
Test tube cooled 6 1.95g 19.82g

A wood split was put on fire and put into the test tube, and it went out proving that there was
CO2 present.
Analyze and Interpret
a) According to the data, equation number 2 occurred. It is equation 2 because through the
background research it shows that to test for Carbon Dioxide you take a glowing splint
and place it into an Unkown gas it will go out. When the glowing splint was placed into
the test tube the splint went out proving that there was CO2 present. With this evidence,
you are able to confirm it was equation 2 based on our actual yield being 1.95g and are
the theoretical yield being 2.00g.
b) Based on the result proving that there was CO2 present in the reaction, equations 1 and 4
are not possible because equations 1 and 4 do not yield CO2, making them nonapplicable.
Equations 2 and 3 both yield CO2 making it depend on the actual yield. Based on the
results the actual yield is 1.95g and the theoretical yield for equation 2 is 2.00g. The
result of the theoretical yield being very similar to the actual yield makes equation 2 the
one in the experiment.
c) It was necessary to reheat the object multiple times to ensure that the Sodium Bicarbonate
had stopped reacting and stopped producing water vapor, Carbon Dioxide, and Sodium
Carbonate.
d) Percentage yield = 1.95g / 2.00g x 100% = 97.5%. A possible reason for the percent
yields not being 100 is imparities in the substances and human error thought-out the
experiment.

Apply and Extend

6NaHCO3 -> 3Na2CO3 + 3H2O + 3CO2
mNaHCO3 = 3.1g MNaHCO3 = 84.01g/mol
MH2O = 18.01g/mol MCO2 = 40.01g/mol
1) Mass of H2O
1𝑚𝑜𝑙
nNaHCO3 = 3.1g x = 0.03690 mol NaHCO3
84.01𝑔
3 𝐻 2𝑂
nH2O = 0.03690 mol NaHCO3 x 3H2O / = 0.01845 mol of H2O
6 𝑁𝑎𝐻𝐶𝑂 3
18.02𝑔
mH2O = 0.01845mol H2O x = 0.30g of H2O
1𝑚𝑜𝑙
Therefore 0.30g of H2O gas will be yielded
2) Mass of CO2
1𝑚𝑜𝑙
nNaHCO3 = 3.1g x = 0.03690 mol NaHCO3
84.01𝑔
 3 𝐶𝑂 2
nCO2 = 0.03690 mol NaHCO3 x = 0.01845 mol CO2
6 𝑁𝑎𝐻𝐶𝑂 3
40.01 𝑔
mCO2 = 0.01845 mol CO2 x = 0.8g of CO2
1 𝑚𝑜𝑙
Therefore 0.80g of CO2 gas will be yielded
Conclusion
After the experiment, the 3.10g of Sodium Bicarbonate will yield 2.00g of solid Sodium
Carbonate (NaCO3), 0.30g of water vapor (H2O) and 0.80g of Carbon dioxide gas (CO2).