Question

What happens when:
A. Sodium metal is dropped in water?
B. Sodium metal is heated in free supply of air?
C. Sodium peroxide dissolves in water?

Answer 1

Hint: We know that sodium is the element in the first group with a valency of 1. So, sodium is highly reactive. Sodium is stored in the laboratory in a kerosene bottle.

Complete step by step answer:
Let us solve this problem one by one:
We know that sodium is a highly reactive metal. If we dropped the sodium metal into the water, immediately it catches fire. The reason for this is the sodium reacting with water produces hydrogen gas and the hydrogen gas catches fire immediately. The reaction is as follows:
$2Na + 2{H_2}O \to 2NaOH + {H_2}(g)$

If we heated the sodium metal in the presence of free supply of air, then it will form sodium peroxide and also forms sodium oxide in a small quantity. The reaction of this process is as follows:
$N{a_2}O + \dfrac{1}{2}{O_2} \to N{a_2}{O_2}$

If we dissolve the sodium peroxide in water, it forms hydrogen peroxide and sodium hydroxide. The reaction of this process is as follows:
$N{a_2}{O_2} + 2{H_2}O \to 2NaOH + {H_2}{O_2}$

Additional Information:
1. The symbol of sodium in the periodic table is Na and the atomic number is 11.
2. The sodium has only one stable isotope, that is${}^{23}Na$.
3. The free metal of sodium does not occur in nature and we have to prepare it.

Note: You should follow all the safety guidelines whenever you are doing any chemical experiments like sodium water experiments. You also notice that sodium is an essential element for our human body for many chemical reactions.