Bicarbonate
The bicarbonate anion is formed with a carbon double-bonded to an oxygen, single-bonded to a hydroxide group, which here is neutral, and single-bonded to another oxygen which requires one more electron to complete its outer shell. Here, the sodium cation provides the electron, resulting in a net -1 charge.
Bicarbonate is an anion (a negatively-charged ion). Its chemical formula is HCO−
3. A sample compound is sodium bicarbonate.
Properties
Bicarbonate is amphoteric: it is both an acid and a base. As an acid, it reacts with bases to make carbonate, and as a base, it reacts with acids to make carbonic acid, which usually disporportionates to water and carbon dioxide.[1]
When heated, it will react with itself as both acid and base:
2 NaHCO
3 → Na
2CO
3 + H
2O + CO
2
Bicarbonate Media
Reference ranges for blood tests, comparing blood content of bicarbonate (shown in blue at right) with other constituents.
References
- ↑ Skoog, Douglas A.; West, Donald M.; James Holler, F.; Crouch, Stanley R. (January 2013). Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry. Cengage Learning. p. 370. ISBN 9781285607191.
Related pages
Bicarbonate compounds
- Sodium bicarbonate
- Potassium bicarbonate
- Calcium bicarbonate
- Ammonium bicarbonate
- Carbonic acid
