NSCI 1322 Lecture Notes - Lecture 36: Aluminium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Bicarbonate
12 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
Sodium metal is obtained by the electrolysis of molten, or fused, sodium chloride. Sodium chloride is mined from huge underground deposits. The other source of sodium chloride is seawater, which is a solution of many dissolved substances, but sodium chloride is the principal one. Sodium metal is a strong reducing agent, and this accounts for many of its major uses. For example, it is used to obtain metals such as titanium and zirconium by reduction of their compounds. Sodium is also employed as a reducing agent in the production of a number of organic compounds, including dyes and pharmaceutical drugs. Like lithium, sodium metal reacts with water, but with even greater vigor. The reaction is sufficiently exothermic to ignite the hydrogen gas produced in the reaction. Sodium hydroxide is among the top ten industrial chemicals. It is produced by the electrolysis of aqueous sodium chloride. Both chlorine gas and sodium hydroxide are major products of this electrolysis.
