...Makes the Chemistry Blues Go Away!
Ever true to my word, I want to prove that Chapter 11: Chemical Reactions, is one of the most exciting chapters in chemistry. The only limitation to this is that some of the coolest reactions are slightly dangerous and we don't have the proper facilities to demonstrate them in. But, with the magic of the internet we can observe them anyway. For the rest of the chapter, I will post a daily, amazing reaction on the blog.
Today's reaction is the reaction between sodium and chlorine gas. Can you predict the equation that describes this reaction?
Notice that this reaction is extremely exothermic, it gives off lots of energy. Why might that be the case?
This reaction was interesting to see because a catalyst (water) was involved in the reaction. Without the water the reaction would not have occurred and nothing would have lit up in flames.
ReplyDeleteThe equation is 2Na+Cl2--> 2NaCl, this also has a catalyst that is water. This forms table salt, the reason this is extremely exo-thermic is because salt really wants to form, and this releases a lot of heat.
ReplyDeletei think it's very interesting to see how powerful the reactions can be between two substances. the reaction between sodium and chlorine gas is very big compared to many other reactions. i understand the reaction, but why does the reaction only work if water is part of it? i can't believe that such large reactions occur just by small amounts of substances.
ReplyDeleteI think that this reaction is very interesting, however why doesnt anything happen until the final drops of water were added? is this what is need to cause the final reaction, or could this happen in another way? the equation for this is 2Na+Cl2-->2NaCl and this is very exothermic because the wants to form, which causes a large amount of heat to be released.
ReplyDelete--Morgan Wheeler
The equation for this is 2 Na + Cl2 > 2 NaCl. I wish we could do more things like this in lab. I found it interesting that the sodium metal piece stayed put and didn't move during the reaction.
ReplyDeleteThis reactions gives off so much energy because in this exothermic reactions many bonds are being formed. What else has sucrose in it? And if something else made of sucrose was added to this, could the reaction be much bigger?
ReplyDeleteI think its so powerful because this huge reaction occured just by small amount of chemicals. Especially, the one drop of water has the most power since it was the major reason of this reaction, being catalyst. Also, i understand that this reaction is exothermic since it gives off heat and energy. But i don't see how or why it gives off energy. I wonder what does water has to be with giving off some heat.
ReplyDelete------------Sue Oh--------
we've talked of this in class and i have the equation in my notes so it would be 2Na+Cl2--> 2NaCl
ReplyDeleteA catalyst is a substance that speeds up a reaction, but does not get used up in the reaction. When I watched this video I couldn't tell if the water was a catalyst because I wasn't sure if the water was used up in the reaction. If it was not used up in the reaction then I would say that the water was a catalyst because it triggered the reaction and made it extremely exothermic. My question is, was the water a catalyst?
ReplyDeleteI think it's neat how the reaction is so large between these two substances. I just don't understand why these two substances require water to get started? The water isn't really part of the reaction, so is it's only job to get it going? Or is part of the water used in the reaction, is part of it being used, like the hydrogen or the oxygen to jump start the reaction?
ReplyDelete