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Chapter 21: Problem 23

How is sodium prepared commercially?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Commercially, sodium is produced primarily from rock salt, or halite, using a process called the Downs process. This involves mining and purifying the salt into brine, mixing the sodium chloride with calcium chloride to reduce the melting point, undergoing electrolysis to isolate the sodium and collecting the metallic sodium post-reaction.

Step by step solution

01

Preparation of Raw Material

For commercial purposes, sodium is prepared from its ore called rock salt or halite. First, the halite is mined and then purified into a product known as brine, which is a water solution containing a high concentration of dissolved sodium chloride (NaCl).
02

The Downs Process

Commercial production uses what is known as the Downs process. Here, sodium chloride is mixed with calcium chloride to lower the melting point of the mixture to around 600°C. This is done to reduce the energy required for the next step which is electrolysis.
03

Electrolysis

In this step, the molten mixture of sodium chloride and calcium chloride is subjected to electrolysis. At the cathode, sodium ions are reduced to form sodium metal. The reaction is: \(2Na^{+} + 2e^{-} \rightarrow 2Na\). The produced sodium is lighter than the molten mixture and therefore it floats on top where it is collected. At the anode, Chloride ion are oxidized to form chlorine gas. The reaction is: \(2Cl^{-} \rightarrow Cl_{2} + 2e^{-}\). The chlorine gas is collected at the top of the cell.
04

Collection of Sodium

After the electrolysis process, sodium is collected from the top of the mixture because of its lower density. Then, the collected metallic sodium is stored in oil to prevent it from reacting with moisture and air.

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