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What is the difference if I want to make sodium amalgam, if I mixed sodium metal with mercury directly or if I mixed sodium oxide with mercury?
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+ Inorganic chemistry
+ Sodium
+ Chemistry
Posted by
Alexander L
What is the difference if I want to make sodium amalgam, if I mixed sodium metal with mercury directly or if I mixed sodium oxide with mercury?
Sodium amalgam may be prepared in the laboratory by dissolving sodium metal in mercury or the reverse. Sodium amalgams can be purchased from chemical supply houses.
Instead if Na2O is used NaHg will be formed along with O- ions.
Sodium amalgam may be prepared in the laboratory by dissolving sodium metal in mercury or the reverse. Sodium amalgams can be purchased from chemical supply houses.
Instead if Na2O is used NaHg will be formed along with O- ions.
Not sure whether Na2O will dissolve in mercury. But even if it did, you wouldn’t have a sodium amalgam.
The whole point and general use of such amalgams is to give you a strong reducing agent (sodium) which doesn’t suffer from the problem of having its surface activity reduced by formation of an oxide. Combining it with mercury allows for the surface to be regenerated in some sense since now you have a liquid.
Sodium oxide on the other hand is not a reducing agent. It’s a base.
So the difference is that the latter won’t work if you’re trying to reduce something.
Not sure whether Na2O will dissolve in mercury. But even if it did, you wouldn’t have a sodium amalgam.
The whole point and general use of such amalgams is to give you a strong reducing agent (sodium) which doesn’t suffer from the problem of having its surface activity reduced by formation of an oxide. Combining it with mercury allows for the surface to be regenerated in some sense since now you have a liquid.
Sodium oxide on the other hand is not a reducing agent. It’s a base.
So the difference is that the latter won’t work if you’re trying to reduce something.
Sodium amalgam may be prepared in the laboratory by dissolving sodium metal in mercury or the reverse. Sodium amalgams can be purchased from chemical supply houses.
Instead if Na2O is used NaHg will be formed along with O- ions.
Sodium amalgam may be prepared in the laboratory by dissolving sodium metal in mercury or the reverse. Sodium amalgams can be purchased from chemical supply houses.
Instead if Na2O is used NaHg will be formed along with O- ions.
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Not sure whether Na2O will dissolve in mercury. But even if it did, you wouldn’t have a sodium amalgam.
The whole point and general use of such amalgams is to give you a strong reducing agent (sodium) which doesn’t suffer from the problem of having its surface activity reduced by formation of an oxide. Combining it with mercury allows for the surface to be regenerated in some sense since now you have a liquid.
Sodium oxide on the other hand is not a reducing agent. It’s a base.
So the difference is that the latter won’t work if you’re trying to reduce something.
Not sure whether Na2O will dissolve in mercury. But even if it did, you wouldn’t have a sodium amalgam.
The whole point and general use of such amalgams is to give you a strong reducing agent (sodium) which doesn’t suffer from the problem of having its surface activity reduced by formation of an oxide. Combining it with mercury allows for the surface to be regenerated in some sense since now you have a liquid.
Sodium oxide on the other hand is not a reducing agent. It’s a base.
So the difference is that the latter won’t work if you’re trying to reduce something.
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