[penjuin]

Hi all,

This is my first post here, and I am glad i have found such a great website! I am interested in chemistry, but have been unable (until now) to find any information for people in the same situation as me. Anyway, down to business:

Today in [beginner] chemistry, my teacher did the Na + H₂O reaction. Whilst it was done on a small scale (my school did not have the equipment available to contain the explosive effects) so there was no explosion, I was wondering why there would be an explosion. I came up with this balanced equation:

2Na + H₂O -> Na₂O + H₂

Assuming that equation is correct, I figured that the heat generated in the reaction would ignite the H₂ and that would cause the explosion. Could someone please tell me if a) my equation is correct and b) if it is caused by the igniting of the H₂?

Cheers,
penjuin

[AWK]

Y use an excess of water
2Na(s)+2H2O=2NaOH(aq) +H2(g)
This reaction is highly exothermic and heat cause self-ignition of mixture H2+air