Question

What happens when zinc granules are heated with sodium hydroxide solution?

Answer 1

The reaction of metal with base

• The metal reacts with a base to form its corresponding salt along with hydrogen gas.
• The general chemical reaction is as follows,

$\mathrm{Metal}+\mathrm{Base}\to \mathrm{Salt}+\mathrm{Hydrogen}$

• The gas produced burns with a pop sound confirming the gas to be hydrogen gas.

Chemical reaction

• When zinc granules $\left(\mathrm{Zn}\right)$ are added to the solution of sodium hydroxide $\left(\mathrm{NaOH}\right)$, sodium zincate $\left({\mathrm{Na}}_2{\mathrm{ZnO}}_2\right)$, and hydrogen gas $\left({\mathrm{H}}_2\right)$ are formed as the product.
• The chemical reaction is as follows,
• $$\begin{gathered} \mathrm{Zn}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)+2\mathrm{NaOH}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)\to {\mathrm{Na}}_2{\mathrm{ZnO}}_2\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)+{\mathrm{H}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right) \\ \mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{hydroxide}\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{zincate} \end{gathered}$$