Baking soda is a white crystalline powder (NaHCO₃) better known to chemists as sodium bicarbonate, bicarbonate of soda, sodium hydrogen carbonate, or sodium acid carbonate. It is classified as an acid salt, formed by combining an acid (carbonic) and a base (sodium hydroxide), and it reacts with other chemicals as a mild alkali. At temperatures above 300 degrees Fahrenheit (149 degrees Celsius), baking soda decomposes into sodium carbonate (a more stable substance), water, and carbon dioxide.

The native chemical and physical properties of baking soda account for its wide range of applications, including cleaning, deodorizing, buffering, and fire extinguishing. Baking soda neutralizes odors chemically, rather than masking or absorbing them. Consequently, it is used in bath salts and deodorant body powders. Baking soda tends to maintain a pH of 8.1 (7 is neutral) even when acids, which lower pH, or bases, which raise pH, are added to the solution. Its...