Baking powder is a fine white powder used for making cakes, biscuits, and it is also used in toothpaste (World Book, 1968). Baking powder is normally made up of three different parts: an acid, a base and a filler of some sort. The uses of baking powder are numerous. The key to baking powder is its release of carbon dioxide (www.howstuffworks.com). Baking powder has had a long-term mystique in toothpastes, there are varying opinions as to its effectiveness (dentistry.about.com).
             Baking powder is a mixture: an acid, such as cream of tartar, a base, such as baking soda, and a filler, such as corn starch. The baking soda is also known as sodium bicarbonate, with the chemical formula NaHCO3. Cream of tartar, also known as tartrate salt, has the formula KHC4H4O6. The reaction is
             NaHCo3 + KHC4H4O6 â KnaC4H4O6 +H2O + CO2
             Some baking powders also contain sodium aluminum sulfate: NaAl(SO4)2. The reaction here is:
             NaAl(SO4)2 + 3 NaHCO3 â Al(OH)3 + 2 Na2So4 + 3 CO2.
             As you can tell, one of the byproducts from both reactions occurring in the different types of baking powder is CO2, or carbon dioxide (www.howthingswork.com).
             The use of baking powder in toothpaste is attributed to the bicarbonate, which can reduce the acidity in plaque, thereby reducing tooth decay (dentistry.about.com). The use of baking powder in cooking is for its quick reaction time. Bubbles of gas get caught in the flour mixture. The heat of baking expands the bubbles. They push against the flour mixture to make it rise (World Book, 1968).
             Baking powder is a very interesting compound that everyone has in his or her house. Its uses are end less every thing from baking and toothpaste to home made deodorant and air freshener....