Sodium carbonates

Product Description

 Name: Sodium carbonate
CAS Registry Number: 5968-11-6
 
Sodium carbonate (also known as washing soda, soda crystals or soda ash), Na2CO3, is a sodium salt of carbonic acid. It most commonly occurs as a crystalline heptahydrate, which readily effloresces to form a white powder, the monohydrate; and is domestically well known for its everyday use as a water softener. It has a cooling alkaline taste, and can be extracted from the ashes of many plants. It is synthetically produced in large quantities from table salt in a process known as the Solvay process.
The manufacture of glass is the most important use of sodium carbonate. When combined with sand (SiO2) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and heated to very high temperatures, then cooled very rapidly, glass is produced. This type of glass is known as Soda lime glass.