TheNerdyFarmer
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Sodium and Potassium Usefulness.
I was watching a couple videos on youtube about sodium and potassium and started thinking about how cool it would be to have sodium. But then got to
thinking, what good uses (if any) would sodium or potassium metal have in a lab other than some good fun every now and then? It seems like they are
pretty useless in making anything more than their hydroxides.
If anyone knows of any valuable uses please do say.
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Metacelsus
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They are good reducing agents, and can also make things like alkoxides.
[Edited on 11-24-2016 by Metacelsus]
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j_sum1
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Here ya go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umYuJ8TwQLk
A bit unorthodox (ok a lot) but it does show that this is more than just a curiosity.
Na is often used as a drying agent. Sodium ethoxide is a fairly common starting point for many processes -- formed from the reaction between sodium
and ethanol.
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careysub
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Take a look at these key reactions:
http://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/2011/10/07/reagent-fri...
And these reports on various reagents prepared from metallic sodium:
Attachment: SodiumAmalgam.pdf (76kB)
This file has been downloaded 518 times
Attachment: SodiumEthoxide.pdf (87kB)
This file has been downloaded 503 times
Attachment: SodiumMethoxide.pdf (252kB)
This file has been downloaded 527 times
About that which we cannot speak, we must remain silent.
-Wittgenstein
Some things can never be spoken
Some things cannot be pronounced
That word does not exist in any language
It will never be uttered by a human mouth
- The Talking Heads
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DrP
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We used to make sodium wire out of it to keep distilled solvent dry.
Others in our group were using both of those metals as a catalyst for certain polymerizations.
\"It\'s a man\'s obligation to stick his boneration in a women\'s separation; this sort of penetration will increase the population of the younger
generation\" - Eric Cartman
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Meltonium
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You could also use sodium metal to make sodium hydride, a useful chemical in organic synthesis, or even sodium borohydride.
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ecos
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you can make H2O2 from Na.
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Jstuyfzand
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Could you elaborate?
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Maroboduus
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And nobody mentioned sodium amide yet.
And how could anybody make buna rubber without it? (or should it be BuNa?)
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Metacelsus
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I imagine it would involve burning the sodium in air to form sodium peroxide, followed by reaction with water.
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ecos
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watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqEWUw6sgpA
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Jstuyfzand
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Would be pretty cost prohibitive, but I can see it working.
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m1tanker78
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I've used sodium and potassium as getters. I store a lot of my solvents with sodium BBs in the bottles. In a pinch, aqueous sodium hydroxide can be
prepared easily. It's inefficient but if you stock plenty of sodium it's not a big deal. I've prepared H2O2 from sodium peroxide but stabilizing it
can be tricky and then you've got sodium contamination.
Sodium can be alloyed with other metals and then reacted away to create a high surface area version of the metal you alloyed.
Chemical CURIOSITY KILLED THE CATalyst.
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ave369
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Not just hydrogen peroxide: anhydrous sodium peroxide itself can be made by burning sodium. This cannot be replicated by wet chemistry: the closest
approximation that you can get in aqueous medium is sodium peroxide octahydrate, which is somewhat less useful.
Smells like ammonia....
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NitratedKittens
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You can use it to make biodiesel via sodium methoxide
Basket of kittens for you ........BOOM
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