Potassium Bicarbonate & Potassium Chloride

Potassium bicarbonate and potassium chloride both contain potassium. Not only do they look alike, but both are used by the food industry. Despite these superficial similarities, these molecules are chemically very different. Even though the two substances have similar names and appearances, you should not assume that they are the same thing.

Potassium Chloride

Potassium chloride is a white, granular powder with a salty taste. Chemists classify it as a salt because it is made from an alkali metal and a halide. The molecular weight of this molecule is 74.54. Soluble in water, this nutrient is easily absorbed when ingested from food or from dietary supplements.

Potassium Bicarbonate

Like potassium chloride, potassium bicarbonate is a white powder that is soluble in water. However, with a molecular weight of 100.11, it is approximately 25 percent heavier than potassium chloride. The bicarbonate portion of the molecule reacts differently than the chloride portion of potassium chloride, making the fizzing of soda possible. Chemists also refer to this molecule as potassium hydrogen carbonate, carbonic acid, monopotassium salt and potassium acid carbonate.

Potassium Chloride Use

Potassium chloride is used as a potassium supplement. Although potassium is widely available from dietary sources and in water, anorexics and patients who have long-term vomiting or diarrhea often need supplementation to replace the potassium that they have lost. Without potassium, your nervous system would be unable to function. Even slight deficits can cause serious cardiac issues when nervous signals to heart tissue become unreliable.

Potassium chloride is also used in fertilizer, salt substitutes and lethal injections.

Potassium Bicarbonate Uses

Potassium bicarbonate is widely used in the food industry as a leavening agent, a foaming or fizzing agent, and a color stabilizer. Medically, it is used to replenish electrolytes. It is also a common potassium supplement, antacid and excipient, or nonactive vehicle for other drugs. Potassium bicarbonate has many industrial uses, including correcting soil pH, speeding up curing of fast-drying glues and in dry powder fire extinguishers.