Question

Is baking soda a compound?

Answer 1

To a first approximation, `"baking soda"` is a pure chemical compound.

Explanation:

The `"baking soda"` you use to make cakes, i.e. the commercial product, is (pure?) `"sodium bicarbonate"`, i.e. `Na^(+)""^(-)HCO_3`.

`"Baking powder"` is another leavening agent, but it contains `"cream of tartar"`, i.e. `"potassium ditartrate"`, `KC_4H_5O_6`, a salt of a diacid. When you add baking soda to a cake batter, the acid in the batter, the butter and the eggs, is conceived to react with the carbonate to make `CO_2`, which raises the cake, and makes it fluffy and spongy. Yumm.