Question
Sodium reacts with chlorine to form the compound sodium chloride, or salt. The chemical formula below shows how the two elements combine into a compound.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The chemical reaction between sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) to form sodium chloride (NaCl) can be represented by the following equation:
\[
2 \text{Na} (s) + \text{Cl}_2 (g) \rightarrow 2 \text{NaCl} (s)
\]
In this equation:
- **2 Na (s)** represents two atoms of solid sodium.
- **Cl₂ (g)** represents one molecule of chlorine gas, which consists of two chlorine atoms.
- **2 NaCl (s)** represents two formula units of solid sodium chloride (table salt).
Sodium donates one electron to chlorine, allowing sodium to become a positively charged ion (Na⁺) and chlorine to become a negatively charged ion (Cl⁻). The resulting electrostatic attraction between the oppositely charged ions forms the ionic compound sodium chloride.
\[
2 \text{Na} (s) + \text{Cl}_2 (g) \rightarrow 2 \text{NaCl} (s)
\]
In this equation:
- **2 Na (s)** represents two atoms of solid sodium.
- **Cl₂ (g)** represents one molecule of chlorine gas, which consists of two chlorine atoms.
- **2 NaCl (s)** represents two formula units of solid sodium chloride (table salt).
Sodium donates one electron to chlorine, allowing sodium to become a positively charged ion (Na⁺) and chlorine to become a negatively charged ion (Cl⁻). The resulting electrostatic attraction between the oppositely charged ions forms the ionic compound sodium chloride.