Question

What happens when silver chloride is exposed to sunlight? Write a chemical equation for this reaction. Also, give one use of such a reaction.

Answer 1

Hint:To answer the above question, we need to first understand the properties of silver chloride and how it reacts with other chemicals. also how it appears in nature? It is a delicate substance, which turns into a grey-black colour when exposed to light.

Complete answer:
Silver chloride having the chemical formula \[AgCl\], is a white solid, crystalline in nature. Its solubility in water is very less, it is nearly insoluble. Upon slight heating or exposure to sunlight, it gives or decomposes into silver and chlorine gas. The silver produced has a greyish black colour or sometimes purple in occurrence. It is found in a mineral called chlorargyrite.
Silver chloride has several uses. Electrodes are made out of silver chloride. Silver chloride also poses a kind of lustre since it has low solubility in water, it is used in pottery to give a lustre to the pots. It is also proved useful in Mercury poisoning because it eliminates the Mercury from the body, it is a kind of an antidote. Silver chloride is highly used in the photographic paper as it converts latent images by using photons. It is used as well in bandages and healing products. Helps to create different colours in stained glass manufacturing, some deodorants and drinking water preservative.
The reaction of silver chloride with light is given below:
\[2AgCl\left( s \right) \to 2Ag\left( s \right) + C{l_2}\left( g \right)\]
This reaction is very useful in black and white photography.

Note:
You need to be sure of using some precaution while handling silver chloride. The room needs to be adequately ventilated and you cannot breathe dust or vapour. Make sure you do not contact it with your skin, eyes or clothes. After using it, make sure you wash your hands thoroughly.