It comes by many names, Baking Soda, Sodium Bicarbonate, or my personal favorite Bicarbonate of Soda, because it never hurts to use more words to say things. It’s become a fairly integral part of our society, being used in everything from tackling the most difficult cleaning jobs to making our cookies and cakes come out nice and fluffy. Bicarbonate of Soda Day reminds us just how much a part this simple little salt plays in our lives, and encourages us to take a look at its origins.
History of Bicarbonate of Soda Day
Bicarbonate of Soda is an interesting little substance, and almost all of us had our first experiences with making volcanos in science class. A measure of this grainy white powder, a bit of food coloring, and a splash of lemon juice and suddenly you had a bubbling flow of magma rolling down the sides of your paper mache volcano! But this is hardly the most common use of the substance, and it has found its way into everything. So where did it come from?
Well, aside from being a result of a chemical process known as the “Solvay Process” where sodium chloride, ammonia, and carbon dioxide are mixed in water to produce sodium carbonate, and happens to produce sodium bicarbonate as a byproduct (thank you to Ernest Solvay for discovering this process in the 1860’s), sodium bicarbonate was first discovered by a French Chemist by the name of Nicolas Leblanc.
He discovered it at approximately the same time he discovered sodium carbonate, otherwise known as soda ash. Since then it has come into use in a surprising number of industries, including cooking, pest control, paint and corrosion removal, disinfectants, personal hygiene, even in cattle food supplements, just to name a few. This simple discover has turned out to be an incredibly useful little substance, and that’s why it gets a day of its very own.
How to celebrate Bicarbonate of Soda Day
Celebrate it by building the first baking soda volcano since High School! Alright, well, at least have a little fun with it by putting some in a cup and pouring in some vinegar. Then see where you might have bicarbonate of soda in your life! Bicarbonate of Soda Day is all about being aware of the effect this nifty little substance has, so read everything. Your toothpaste almost certainly has it in there, but it also can be found in your household cleaners, and we’re willing to bet you have a box of it in your pantry!
