Question

Write the chemical formula of baking soda.

Answer 1

Hint: Baking soda is sodium hydrogen carbonate. Valency of sodium is 1 and valency of hydrogen carbonate is also 1. To write a formula, constituent elements and their valency is written. Crossover of Valency is done.

Complete step by step solution:
-The chemical name of baking soda is sodium hydrogen carbonate.
-Chemical symbol for sodium is Na, Chemical symbol for Hydrogen is H and symbol for carbonate is \[C{{O}_{3}}^{2-}\].
-To write the chemical formula of baking soda which has a chemical name as Sodium Hydrogen carbonate, constituent elements and their valency must be written.
Valency of Sodium atom is 1, Valency of hydrogen is 1 and valency of carbonate is 2.
Certain rules must be followed while writing chemical formula,
-Valency or charged ions must be balanced.
-Symbol of metal should be written first when a compound contains metal and a nonmetal.
-if the compound is formed with polyatomic ions, a number of ions present in the compound are indicated by enclosing the formula of ions in a bracket and writing number of ions outside the bracket.
 In a case where the number of polyatomic ions is 1, brackets are not necessary.
While writing chemical formula, constituent elements and their valency is to be written. Then, a crossover of valency is done.
So, the Valency of sodium is 1 and it is a metal, so the symbol of sodium Na is written first while writing chemical formula. Valency of Hydrogen Carbonate is 1, so charge on both ions is balanced. As the number of polyatomic ions is 1, brackets are not required.

So the chemical formula of baking soda is \[NaHC{{O}_{3}}\].

Note: While writing chemical formula, constituent elements and their valency is to be written. Then, the crossover of valency is done. Valency or charged ions must be balanced. Symbols of metal should be written first when a compound contains metal and a nonmetal. where the number of polyatomic ions is 1, brackets are not necessary.