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Chapter 21: Problem 15

In the Dow process (Fig. \(21-13\) ), the starting material is \(\mathrm{Mg}^{2+}\) in seawater and the final product is Mg metal. This process seems to violate the principle of conservation of charge. Does it? Explain.

Short Answer

Expert verified
The Dow process doesn't violate conservation of charge principles because overall, across the series of reactions, the total charge of the system remains constant.

Step by step solution

01

Understand the Dow Process

First, we first need to recall that the Dow Process is an industrial method to extract magnesium from seawater. It primarily involves two chemical reactions. The first part is the electrolysis of seawater to form magnesium hydroxide, \(\mathrm{Mg(OH)_2}\), and the second part is the thermal reduction of the magnesium hydroxide to magnesium metal, \(\mathrm{Mg(s)}\). It is to be noted that these reactions involved should conserve charge.
02

Analyze First Part of the Dow Process

In the first part of the Dow Process, seawater is electrolyzed. The magnesium ion, \(\mathrm{Mg^{2+}}\), from seawater reacts with the hydroxide ion, \(\mathrm{OH^-}\), from water to form magnesium hydroxide. Mathematically this can be represented as \[\mathrm{Mg^{2+}} + \mathrm{2OH^-} \rightarrow \mathrm{Mg(OH)_2}\] Now let's analyze this: initially, the total charge of the system was \(2+ - 2 = 0\). After the reaction, \(\mathrm{Mg(OH)_2}\) is a neutral particle. Therefore, the total charge remains \(0\) at the end.
03

Analyze Second Part of the Dow Process

In the second part of the Dow Process, magnesium hydroxide is thermally decomposed to form magnesium metal: \[\mathrm{Mg(OH)_2}\rightarrow \mathrm{Mg} + \mathrm{H_2O}\] Here, we start with a neutral magnesium hydroxide molecule, and end with neutral magnesium atom and a water molecule, which are also neutral. Thus, there's no charge deviation in the system. The transformation from \(\mathrm{Mg^{2+}}\) to \(\mathrm{Mg}\) does not violate the principle of conservation of charge because each step in the process conserves the total charge.

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