Sodium Carbonate Fine Powder - Soda Ash Light 99.3% Pure What is Sodium Carbonate? Sodium Carbonate is a sodium salt of carbonic acid and occurs naturally in the burnt ashes if many plants. Sodium Carbonate is a strong alkali and forms a strong alkali solution when dissolved in water, this makes it very useful in industry and is used for many industrial processes today. Sodium Carbonate is commonly known as Soda Ash, Washing Soda or Soda Crystals. Sodium Carbonate Properties. Sodium Carbonate is a white crystalline powder at room temperature; its melts at 851 C and boils at 1633 C. Sodium Carbonate is odourless and dissolves in water at a rate of 215g/Litre. It remains stable under normal storage conditions and is generally safe to use. Sodium Carbonate (anhydrous) has a density of 2.