Barium Carbonate: Overview, Questions, Preparation

This chapter has multiple topics listed below:

Acids, Bases and Salts Acid Strength Difference between Acid and Bas...Examples of Bases Zinc carbonate Zinc Nitrate Aluminium Phosphate Aspartic Acid Butyric Acid Tannic acid Uses of Folic Acid Uses of Acetic Acid Lactic Acid formula Uses of Citric Acid Magnesium Nitrate Barium Iodide Dilute Acids Magnesium Phosphate Uses of Hydrochloric Acid List of Strong Acids Butanoic Acid Sodium Chlorate Barium Carbonate Chloroacetic Acid Magnesium Bicarbonate Red Cabbage Indicator Sodium Hexametaphosphate Zinc Hydroxide Potassium Iodate Peroxydisulfuric Acid Ph of Acids and Bases Potassium Bromate Weak Acid Examples Weak Bases Magnesium Hydroxide Monosodium Glutamate Potassium Hydroxide Nitrous Acid Henderson Hasselbalch Equation Difference between Alkali and B...Properties of Bases Sodium Citrate Ammonium Phosphate Chemical Indicators Chromic Acid Perchloric Acid Uses of Sodium Hydroxide Zinc Acetate

Jasleen Taneja

Updated on Jun 4, 2024 17:02 IST

Table of Contents

What is Barium Carbonate?
Important Chemical Information about Barium Carbonate
What Is the Chemical Structure of Barium Carbonate?
What Are the Physical Properties of Barium Carbonate?
What are the Chemical Properties of Barium Carbonate?
What Are the Uses of Barium Carbonate?
Illustrated Examples
FAQs on Barium Carbonate

What is Barium Carbonate?

Barium carbonate is a white powder. It is poorly soluble in water. However, it is soluble in most acids, except for sulphuric acid. It has a specific gravity of 4.275. Barium carbonate is toxic if ingested. The chemical formula for barium carbonate is BaCO3. It is found in a mineral known as witherite and is prepared by precipitation from barytes. The Barium ion and the soluble compounds of barium (specifically chloride, nitrate, hydroxide) are toxic to humans.

Barium carbonate is nearly insoluble in water. However, it is slightly soluble (1:1000) in carbon dioxide saturated water. The powder is soluble in diluted hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, or acetic acid. It is also soluble in ammonium chloride nitrate solutions. An individual can experience breathing problems, elevated blood pressure, palpitations, stomach irritation, muscle weakness, changes in nerve reflexes, swelling of the brain and liver, and heart damage due to small amounts of water-soluble barium.

Important Chemical Information about Barium Carbonate

Discovered by	Sir Humphrey Davy in 1808
Density	3.5 g.cm-3 at 20°C
Molecular Weight/ Molar Mass	197.34 g/mol
Boiling Point	1640 °C
Chemical Formula	Baco3
Melting Point	725 °C
Atomic Number	56

What Is the Chemical Structure of Barium Carbonate?

What Are the Physical Properties of Barium Carbonate?

Odour	Odourless
Appearance	White Crystals
Covalently-Bonded Unit	Two
Specific Heat Atomic mass	0.14483 137.33 g.mol -1
Complexity	18.8
Solubility	Poorly Insoluble in the water, while soluble in most of the acids.

What are the Chemical Properties of Barium Carbonate?

Barium carbonate and soluble calcium sulphate react and form barium sulphate that stays in the calcium carbonate solution.

BaCO3 + CaSO4 = BaSO4 + CaCO3

Barium carbonate reacts with hydrochloric acid that results in barium chloride, water, and carbon dioxide.

BaCO3 + 2HCl = CO2 + BaCl2 + H2O

What Are the Uses of Barium Carbonate?

Barium Carbonate has many business applications in the glass, brick, oil drilling, ceramics, photography, and chemical industries.
Using BaCO3 is needed to obtain barium oxide (BaO) and barium peroxide (BaO2).
BaCO3 is used extensively for the production of ceramics.

Weightage of Topic in Class 11

This topic is part of the chapter titled Acids, Bases, and Salts. The weightage of this chapter in class 11 is three marks.

Illustrated Examples

We use Barium carbonate as a standard powder to make special glass, glazes, brick, tile, ceramic, and ferrite.
Chemical barium carbonate decomposes into barium oxide and carbon dioxide after heating.
Brazilian nuts, seaweed, fish, and plants hold additional levels of barium in their food.

FAQs on Barium Carbonate

Q: What are the uses of BaCO3?

A: There are many uses of Barium carbonate. It is used in special glass, glass, brick and tile manufacturing. It is also used in the ceramic and ferrite industries.

Q: What are the three uses for barium?

A: The element Barium is not widely used. But, in drilling fluids for oil and gas wells, there is no alternative for barium. Additionally, in paint technology and the glassmaking process, Barium is used extensively.

Q: What are the medical uses for Barium?

A: Barium sulphate is used as a white powder to understand the gastrointestinal problem. In some X-rays, we can see the same thing.

Q: Does barium affect the kidneys?

A: No, it does not cause any kidney damage.

Q: Is barium carbonate a salt?

A: Barium carbonate is water-soluble. The resulting solutions contain sufficient concentrations of hydroxide ions and have a pH higher than 7.0. They act as bases to neutralise acids.