7. If the baking soda had not been added, would there still have been a source of carbon dioxide being introduced into the water? Explain.

2 answers

Yes, but not a big effect.
Yes there still would have been a source of carbon dioxide being introduced into the water. "Carbon Dioxide is present in water in the form of a dissolved gas.Surface waters normally contain less than 10 ppm free carbon dioxide, while some ground waters may easily exceed that concentration. Carbon dioxide is readily soluble in water. Over the ordinary temperature range (0-30 C) the solubility is about 200 times that of oxygen. Calcium and magnesium combine with carbon dioxide to form carbonates and bicarbonates.

Aquatic plant life depends upon carbon dioxide and bicarbonates in water for growth. Microscopic plant life suspended in the water, phytoplankton, as well as large rooted plants, utilize carbon dioxide in the photosynthesis of plant materials; starches, sugars, oils, proteins. The carbon in all these materials comes from the carbon dioxide in water.

When the oxygen concentration in waters containing organic matter is reduced, the carbon dioxide concentration rises. The rise in carbon dioxide makes it more difficult for fish to use the limited amount of oxygen present. To take on fresh oxygen, fish must first discharge the carbon dioxide in their blood streams and this is a much slower process when there are high concentration of carbon dioxide in the water itself." ~ BioWorld Support