Question

When Na2CO3 dissolves in water, the chemical species in the solution are:

Answer 1

When you put sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) in water it produces 2 sodium ions and one carbonate ion (CO3 with a charge of 2-). Carbonic acid (H2CO3) is a weak acid and doesn't want to break apart. So what happens to the CO3 ion in water is that it picks up one or 2 hydrogen ions to become H2CO3 or HCO3-. The only place CO3 can get hydrogen ions from is water. And if it takes a hydrogen from water (H2O), there will be a hydroxide ion (OH-) left over. From the point of equations:

Na2CO3 ---> 2Na+ + CO3--

CO3-- + H2O ---> HCO3- + OH-

and

HCO3- + H2O ---> H2CO3 + OH-

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