Sodium carbonate undergoes thermal decomposition when heated to a temperature of about 500ºC. This is below its melting point of 851ºC. The decompostion reaction is represented by the following equation:
`Na_2CO_3_(s) -> Na_2O_((s)) + CO_2_(g)`
A decomposition reaction is one in which one reactant produces two or more products. As you can see from the equation, sodium carbonate is the only reactant.
The tendency to undergo thermal decompostion and produce carbon dioxide is a charatersitic of metal carbonates. In each case a metal oxide is also produced. You can determine the equation for the decomposition of a metal carbonate by writing the formula of the metal carbonate on the left (reactant) side of the equation and the formulas for the oxide of the metal and carbon dioxide on the right (product) side. The oxide formula is determined by the charge of the metal ion. For example, in this problem the formula of the oxide produced is Na2O because the sodium ion has a charge of +1 and the oxide ion has a charge of +2. This results in a neutral molecule.
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