Question

Diana prepared a cake by two methods.

Method i) She added baking soda to the cake mixture and let the mixture stand for one hour before placing it in the oven to bake.

Method ii) She added baking powder to the cake mixture and let the mixture stand for one hour before placing it in the oven to bake.

State the difference in the cake mixtures that Diana is likely to have observed before baking. Explain why.

Answer 1

Diana is likely to see that the cake mixture (ii) has risen while cake mixture (i) has not.

The sodium bicarbonate and tartaric acid in baking powder react on mixing with one another, producing carbon dioxide that causes the cake mixture to rise.

Baking soda does not contain tartaric acid and hence does not produce carbon dioxide before baking.