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Chapter 21: Problem 6

The first electrolytic process to produce sodium metal used molten NaOH as the electrolyte. Write probable half-equations and an overall equation for this electrolysis.

Short Answer

Expert verified
The half-reactions are: Oxidation (anode): 2OH- → O2 + H2O + 4e-; Reduction (cathode): Na+ + e- → Na. The overall reaction is: 2NaOH → 2Na + O2 + H2O.

Step by step solution

01

Identify the half reactions

In electrolysis, chemical compounds are broken down into their component elements using electricity. In this case, we have NaOH (sodium hydroxide) being broken down into Na (sodium) and OH (hydroxide ions). So, we can write the half reactions as follows: \n\n- Oxidation (anode): 2OH- → O2 + H2O + 4e- \n- Reduction (cathode): Na+ + e- → Na
02

Write the overall reaction

We can combine these half-reactions to write the overall electrolysis reaction. We balance the number of electrons in the half-equations and combine them to give the overall equation: 2NaOH → 2Na + O2 + H2O

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