countless uses

We use baking soda for all sorts of reasons starting from cleaning the swimming pool to mixing it  into your food for your dinner table.

But what is baking soda really?

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Baking soda is also called sodium bicarbonate. It is a high alkaline salt that is 

generally used in baking because it has the ability to react with certain acids to create carbon dioxide (the fluffiness that results).

Please understand that because they have different chemical compounds, washing sodas and baking powders are not the same as baking sodas.

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The reason why baking soda is also used for cleaning is because it has alkali which is able 
to cause dirt and grease to dissolve in water, resulting in an easy cleansing.
It is also able to lift the grease and dirt off the surface which leads to less scratches
and a simpler removal.

Baking soda's formula is NaHCO3 as shown above. However, the formula 
including the reaction would be  NaHCO3 + H+ --> Na+ +CO2 + H2O.