Question

Write name.
Alloy of sodium with mercury.

Answer 1

Hint: The alloys, intermetallic compounds and solutions of mercury are known as amalgams. Thus, any amalgam of metal is called a metal amalgam. The amalgam of sodium has a number of industrial applications. It is a very powerful reducing agent.

Complete Solution :
- We know that mercury combines with many metals. Any alloy of mercury is called amalgam.
So, the alloy of sodium with mercury is called sodium amalgam.
It can be chemically written as - Na(Hg)
- There is no exact formula designed for sodium amalgam.
It is a strong reducing agent. We know that sodium metal is very reactive towards the water. On the other hand, sodium amalgam is very less reactive towards the water.
- It has many uses in industries. It is used in Emde degradation. It is used for the reduction of aromatic ketones to hydrols. It is used in high-pressure sodium lamps.
- Sodium amalgam consists of Hg-Hg bonds that have a distance of 5 ${A^0}$. The amalgams are usually classified on the basis of weight percent of sodium. The amalgams that have 2 % sodium are solid at room temperature while the more dilute ones are in the liquid state.

Note: The sodium amalgam is formed as a by-product of chlorine manufacturing by mercury cell electrolysis. There are many other methods. If we dissolve sodium in mercury, then the reaction is exothermic. It releases a large amount of heat and sparks are generated.