How does sodium react with water

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Subscribe ». This shows that the reactivity of the alkali metals increases as you go down Group 1. When lithium is added to water, lithium floats. It fizzes steadily and becomes smaller, until it eventually disappears. When sodium is added to water, the sodium melts to form a ball that moves around on the surface. Sodium on the opposite side of the table has the opposite properties. Its single outer electron makes the metal highly reactive and ready to combine with others at the first opportunity — such as the moment the metal hits water.

According to the textbooks, these reactive electrons rip apart the surrounding water molecules to release hydrogen gas and heat. After a moment or two, the growing cloud of hot hydrogen ignites, giving the reaction its characteristic bang. Jungwirth hypothesised that not only the water is affected by the escaping electrons.

Without its negative charges, the positively charged sodium lump suddenly finds its own company highly repulsive. These hairy spikes end up vastly multiplying the surface area, ensuring the sodium stays in contact with the water despite all the smothering gases billowing out.

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