Quality Control for the Athenium Baking

Soda Proposal
Alysa Warlin and Annika Young
7132015

Introduction:
Baking soda (also known as Sodium Bicarbonate) is a chemical compound that is seen by
the naked eye as a fine white powder. It has a crystalline structure much like a salt. Sodium
Bicarbonate is often naturally made by the earth although most companies make baking soda
through a chemical process. This happens by taking CO2+2NaOhNa2CO3+H2O and then taking
that reaction and adding Carbon Dioxide: Na2CO3+CO2+H2O2NaHCO3. This gives us Sodium
Bicarbonate. This is also almost the purest type of baking soda and (in 2001) was produced in
quantities of 100,000 tons/year. A couple uses of Sodium Bicarbonate are: mild disinfectant, fire
extinguisher, cooking, etc.
But sometimes. baking soda can be diluted, or impure due to other salts being added to it.
In this lab, we are looking for the presence of impurities, specifically LiCl, KCl, and CaCl2 in a
sample of baking soda. Along with looking for impurities, we are also looking at the mass
percent of NaHCO3 to determine just how impure the sample is. The baking soda is produced
using this chemical reaction:
NH4HCO3(S)+NaCl(aq)NaHCO3(aq)+NH4Cl(aq).
In order to find impurities in the baking soda, we will be performing flame emissions of
aqueous solutions. Emission spectrums of Li+, K+, and Ca2+ will be found and graphed by
splattering aqueous solutions into a flame. Comparing these spectrum graphs to the one found for
the sample of baking soda as an aqueous solution, it can be determined what metals are present
in the baking soda other than Na+. (Emission spectrums for Na+ may also need to be found so the
spectrum for Na+ is not confused for another spectrum.)
To determine exactly how pure the baking soda is, a mass percent must be found.
Although presence of contaminants can be found using flame emission, concentrations cannot.

By determining the mass percent of NaHCO3, it can be determined just how pure or impure the
baking soda is. In order to find mass percent, the NaHCO3 will be heated to release CO2 and H2O,
and the mass percent can be determined using stoichiometric ratios. A titration will also be
performed using HCl (hydrochloric acid), and another mass percent can be found. The two mass
percents that are found can be averaged to find the average amount of NaHCO3 present in a
given sample of baking soda. It is expected to have some impurities (because in theory it would
be 100% pure but it is probably only realistic to have approximately 98% purity). This means
that the mass percent will not be 100% either.

Procedure
Determining impurities in Baking Soda
1. Obtain approximately 1 mL of LiCl, KCl, and CaCl2 solutions and a sample of baking soda.
2. Place 5 mL of 6M HCl in a beaker. Take the nichrome wire and swish it around in the HCl
for approximately 30 seconds to ensure it is clean. The wire must be cleaned, or any ions still
left on it can contaminate the solutions and ruin the data for the experiment.
3. Rinse the wire with distilled water, and dispose of the HCl in the waste beaker.
4. Place the LiCl, KCl and CaCl2 solutions each into their own watch glass.
5. Take one of the watch glasses containing a sample, and place it into the lip and the base of
the Bunsen burner. The solution should be fairly close to the Bunsen burner, but not spilling
inside of the barrel.
6. Heat the nichrome wire in the flame until it burns bright red. Once you remove the wire from
the flame, dip it into the solution, and make sure it sizzles into the barrel of the Bunsen
burner to produce a colored flame.
7. Make sure that as soon as you remove the wire from the flame to splatter the sample, your
partner presses the sample button on the MeasureNet.
8. Repeat this process with each of the solutions, and the solution of baking soda. Between
splatters, make sure to do the same process with distilled water to rinse any contaminants out
of the barrel of the Bunsen burner.
9. Take the data for each of the flame tests, plus the flame test for the baking soda and input it
into excel.

10. Once in excel, make a graph of each flame test, and compare that of the baking soda to the
LiCl, KCl, and CaCl2 graphs. Look for peaks in the known solutions that also appear in the
baking soda emission graph.
11. Record what metal ions are present in the sample of baking soda.

Determining mass % of NaHCO3 using thermal gravimetric analysis

1. Obtain a clean crucible and lid
2. Take the mass of the crucible and lid
3. Add approximately 1 gram of baking soda to the crucible. Record the mass of the baking
soda, crucible, and lid.
4. Place the crucible containing the baking soda onto the hot plate
5. Heat the mixture gently (180C) for 5 minutes. Periodically take the lid off to check on the
baking soda. Make sure that it does not melt.
6. After heating gently for 5 minutes, heat vigorously (250C) for 15 minutes.
7. Allow to cool, and take the mass of the baking soda, along with the crucible and lid.
8. Heat vigorously (250C) for 5 minutes, and allow too cool again and weigh. Repeat this step
until the mixture is heated to a constant mass. (the mass difference should be no greater than
0.005g or 0.01g in order to reach constant mass)
9. Repeat steps 2-8 for a second sample of baking soda (also approximately 1 gram)
10. Determine the stoichiometric ratio for the mass of CO2 and H2O lost per gram of NaHCO3
that is decomposed
11. Determine the mass of CO2 and H2O released in the experiment.
12. Determine the mass percent of NaHCO3

13. Average the mass percent from both trials.

Determining mass % of NaHCO3 using titration

1. Place 10.00 mL of HCl into a clean, dry 250-mL beaker. Add sufficient amounts of water so
that the notch on the pH electrode is completely submerged. Record how much water was
added to the acid.
2. Fill the burette with a solution of baking soda dissolved in water. Make sure that the burette
is directly over the drop counter and that the drops are being counted.
3. Once the MeasureNet is set up, begin the titration. Once the curve plateaus, pour out the HCl
into a waste beaker, and repeat once more to get an average mass percent.
4. Send the data to the computer, and transfer into an excel file. Graph the data, and find the
equivalence point. Use this to calculate the mass percent of NaHCO3 in the baking soda.
5. Average the mass percent found in both trials.
6. Take the average mass percent from the thermal gravimetric analysis, and the average mass
percent from the titrations. Average the two to find a mass percent for NaHCO3 in the sample
of baking soda.

Results
Determining impurities in Baking Soda

All data should be sent to the computer using the MeasureNet system

Determining mass % of NaHCO3 using thermal gravimetric analysis

Mass of crucible and lid (Trial 1 and 2)

Mass of baking soda, crucible, and lid before heating (Trial 1 and 2)

Mass of baking soda, crucible, and lid after heating (weigh and record after each heating
cycle) (Trial 1 and 2)

Determining mass % of NaHCO3 using titration

Volume of HCl used (Trial 1 and 2)

Volume of H2O added to HCl (Trial 1 and 2)

All titration cure data should be sent to the computer using the MeasureNet system

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