Sodium carbonate has the chemical formula Na2Co3. Meanwhile, sodium bicarbonate is sodium hydrogen carbonate, bearing the chemical formula NaHCO3. It is made up of sodium, hydrogen, and acids. Sodium bicarbonate is more popularly called baking soda.Click to see full answer. Just so, can I use sodium bicarbonate instead of sodium carbonate?The industry standard has always been to use sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to raise total alkalinity and sodium carbonate (soda ash) to raise pH — the exception being if both total alkalinity and pH are low. Sodium carbonate will actually have a dramatic effect on both pH and total alkalinity.Secondly, which is more basic sodium carbonate or sodium bicarbonate? Sodium carbonate and bicarbonate are the salts of weak acid with strong base. Thus their solutions are basic in nature. On the other hand, the dissociation of one molecule of sodium carbonate gives two molecules of sodium hydroxide and one molecule of carbonic acid. Hence, sodium carbonate is more basic. Besides, what does sodium hydrogen carbonate do? Uses: Sodium hydrogen carbonate is commonly used as an antacid, in baking powder, as odor absorber, drying agent, and in toothpastes. It is also used as a fire retardant, in fireworks, for mild disinfecting, pest control, pH balancing, paint removal and metal cleaning applications.How is sodium hydrogen carbonate converted into washing soda?It is a salt produced by the neutralization reaction between a strong base (NaOH) and a weak acid (H2CO3), hence it is a basic salt. It is heated strongly to produce sodium carbonate. Sodium carbonate is recrystallized to produce washing soda. Na2CO3 + 10H2O → Na2CO3.