kyanite - 28-11-2004 at 08:15
Quick question:
2NaCl + Mg(OH)2 ==> 2NaOH + MgCl2
because of electronegativity, right?
BromicAcid - 28-11-2004 at 08:20
A major point to bring up here is that magnesium hydroxide is fairly insoluble, so any such reaction would be exceedingly slow. In addition if it did
work then the magnesium chloride in solution would precipitate from the sodium hydroxide. Since there is no driving force toward you product side
(the anions and cations have no loyalties, a solution of hydroxide and chloride end up going with whatever they end up with unless there is some
driving force such as precipitation which in this case would favor the reactant side.) this reaction will not occur to any appreciable extent.
Edit: If you were not refering to this reaction in the aqueous phase then by heating magnesium hydroxide and sodium chloride together you would end
up with magnesium oxide and sodium chloride unless your temperatures were incredibly hot.
[Edited on 11/28/2004 by BromicAcid]
kyanite - 28-11-2004 at 08:31
Hah, I knew there must be a catch.
So let me see if I've learned anything:
So even if I found a solvent that disolves magnesium hydroxide, it'll probably also disolve MgCl2, and thus theres no driving force...
By the way, I was infact wodering about the aqueous phase. The MSDS had said that hydroxide goes back to oxide with heat