Question

The gas which is produced when sodium reacts with water:
A.) hydrogen
B.) oxygen
C.) water gas
D.) soda gas

Answer 1

Hint: Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na, its atomic number is 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal.
Water is made up of hydrogen (\[{{H}_{2}}\]) and oxygen(\[{{O}_{2}}\]) with the chemical formula \[{{H}_{2}}O\], and it exists in all the states i.e. gaseous, liquid, and solid states. Water is one of the most abundant and essential compounds, occurring as a liquid under normal conditions.

Complete step by step solution:
Given here in the question, sodium reacts with water. When we combine both of them, we’ll see a gas will be released.
If we light the gas which is released, it would explode, as the only elements we have here that can form gases are Hydrogen and Oxygen, let’s just assume that \[{{H}_{2}}\] will be formed. Let’s see the chemical reaction for it.
\[Na\,+\,{{H}_{2}}O\,\to \,x\,+\,{{H}_{2}}\] (i)
We can see that we have to put Na atoms in some kind of bond and the two possibilities can be: \[N{{a}_{2}}O\,\] and \[NaOH\].
If we add \[N{{a}_{2}}O\] in water, it will form \[NaOH\] and if we add \[NaOH\] in water it will live its life peacefully.
The complete reactions are:
\[2Na\,\,+\,\,2{{H}_{2}}O\,\to \,N{{a}_{2}}O\,+\,{{H}_{2}}\,+\,{{H}_{2}}O\,\to \,2NaOH+\,{{O}_{2}}\]
\[2Na\,+\,2{{H}_{2}}O\,\to \,2NaOH\,+\,{{H}_{2}}\]

Both the following reactions can take place but the outcome will be the same, so we can just consider the last equation.
Therefore, from the above statements we can conclude that hydrogen gas is released in the process. So, the correct option is (a).

Note: The reaction of metal with water is exothermic i.e. heat is released. During the reaction, the sodium metal may become so hot that it can catch fire and burn with a characteristic orange color.