EXPERIMENT 4

Reaction of halogens with water and sodium hydroxide

NAME: MARIE ESTHER ELIZABETH CHAPMAN MATRIC NO.: CPM0097_2013B BATCH: APRIL INTA
KE 2013 (PRE-MED) GROUP: D DATE: 28 MAY 2013 LECTURERS NAME: MR. YUSOFF
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Objective 1. To determine the reaction of halogens with water and sodium hydroxi
de. Introduction The intention of this practical is to determine the properties
and reactions of the halogens, a group of reactive non-metals in the periodic ta
ble. The halogens or halogen elements are a group in the periodic table consisti
ng of five chemically related elements, Fluorine (F), Chlorine (Cl), Bromine (Br
), Iodine (I), and Astatine (At). The group of halogens is the only periodic tab
le group which contains elements in all three familiar states of matter at stand
ard temperature and pressure. All of the halogens form acids when bonded to hydr
ogen. Most halogens are typically produced from minerals of salts. The middle ha
logens, that is, chlorine, bromine and iodine, are often used as disinfectants.
The halogens are also all toxic. Physical properties of halogens are that the me
lting points and boiling points of the halogens increase steadily down the group
, they are all coloured non metallic elements and the colour gets darker down the
group as well as that they are all poor conductors of heat and electricity. Apa
rt from that, the density increases down the group. Chemical properties however
are that they are very reactive and that the reactivity decreases down the group
. Moreover, they react with water to form acids and they react with sodium hydro
xide to form salts and water. In this experiment, this activity compares the col
ours and pH of three halogens that is Chlorine, Bromine and Iodine in aqueous so
lution and sodium hydroxide. These halogens react to a small extent with water,
forming acidic solutions with bleaching properties. Apparatus and Materials 1. L
iquid bromine 2. Liquid chlorine 3. Iodine crystals 4. Distilled water 5. pH pap
er 6. Dilute sodium hydroxide (0.1M) 7. Test tubes (6 pieces per group) 8. Dropp
er 9. Test tube rack 10. 5mL measuring cylinder
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Procedure Part A Reaction of halogens with water I.) With chlorine. 1. 5ml of di
stilled water was poured into a clean test tube. A few drops of liquid chlorine
were added into this test tube. 2. The solution was then tested with pH paper. A
ll observations were recorded. With bromine. 1. 5ml of distilled water was poure
d into a clean test tube. A few drops of liquid bromine were added into this tes
t tube. 2. The solution was then tested with pH paper. All observations were rec
orded. With iodine. 1. 5ml of distilled water was poured into a clean test tube.
A small iodine crystal was added into this test tube. 2. The test tube was then
closed with a stopper and shaken well. 3. The solution was then tested with pH
paper. All observations were recorded.
II.)
III.)
Part B Reaction of halogens with sodium hydroxide I.) Chlorine and sodium hydrox
ide 1. 5ml of dilute sodium hydroxide was poured into a clean test tube. A few d
rops of liquid chlorine were added into this test tube. 2. The test tube was the
n closed with a stopper and shaken well. 3. All observations were recorded. Brom
ine and sodium hydroxide 1. 5ml of dilute sodium hydroxide was poured into a cle
an test tube. A few drops of liquid bromine were added into this test tube. 2. T
he test tube was then closed with a stopper and shaken well. 3. All observations
were recorded. Iodine and sodium hydroxide 1. 5ml of sodium hydroxide was poure
d into a clean test tube. A small iodine crystal was added into this test tube.
2. The test tube was then closed with a stopper and shaken well. 3. All observat
ions were recorded.
II.)
III.)
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Diagram
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Observation and Results Observations Halogen Reaction with water The liquid chlo
rine was soluble in water. There was also a colour change on the pH paper from y
ellow to blue with pH 8. The solution, however, remains colourless. Reaction wit
h sodium hydroxide Chlorine was soluble in sodium hydroxide. There was no colour
change for the solution as it remained colourless. The pH of the solution was p
H 11 with a colour change of pH paper from yellow to blue. There was no change i
n colour of the solution but the colour of pH paper changed from yellow to blue.
The pH of the solution was pH 11.
Chlorine
Bromine
The liquid bromine was soluble in water. There was no colour change in the solut
ion. However, the colour of the pH paper changed from yellow to orange. The solu
tion was pH 3.
Iodine
The iodine crystal was slightly soluble in water. There was a change of colour i
n the solution indicating a light brown colour from colourless. The pH paper als
o had a change of colour from yellow to light yellow with a pH value of 4.
The colour of solution changes from colourless to yellow and the pH paper from y
ellow to a dark red colour with a pH value of 11.
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Discussion (Questions) 1. Chlorine reacted with water to form hydrochloric acid

and hypochlorous acid. The colour changed from yellow to blue on the pH paper an
d was dissolvable in water. The chemical equation is Cl2 + H2O
HCl + HClO. Chlor
ine also reacted with sodium hydroxide to form sodium chloride, sodium chlorate
(I) and water. There was no colour change in the solution but had colour change
in pH paper from yellow to blue. The chemical equation is Cl2 + 2NaOH
NaCl + NaC
lO + H2O. However, bromine reacted with water to form hydrobromic acid and hypob
romous acid. There was no colour change in the solution as bromine dissolved in
the solution. However, pH paper showed that there was a colour change from yello
w to orange indicating the presence of an acid. The chemical equation is Br2 + H
2O HBr + HBrO. Bromine also reacted with sodium hydroxide to form sodium bromide
, sodium bromate (I) and water. The solution remained colourless. The pH paper i
ndicated a colour change from yellow to blue. This showed that the solution was
alkaline. The chemical equation is Br2 + 2NaOH
NaBr + NaBrO + H2O. Apart from th
at, iodine reacts with water to form hydroiodic acid and hypoiodous acid. The io
dine was only slightly soluble in the water and there was a change of colour in
the solution from colourless to light brown and a pH paper colour change from ye
llow to light yellow. The chemical equation is I2 + H2O
HI + HIO. Besides that,
iodine also reacts with sodium hydroxide to form sodium iodide, sodium iodate (I
) and water with a chemical equation I2 + 2NaOH NaI + NaIO + H2O. There was a co
lour change from colourless to yellow in the solution and a change from yellow t
o dark red on pH paper. 2. Two properties of halogens other than those observed
in this experiment are that they are not good conductors of heat and electricity
and that their densities increase down the group. 3. One of the reactivities ba
sed on the periodic table is that halogens are one electron short in the outermo
st (p) shell, therefore, adding an electron creates a stable configuration, henc
e releases energy. The further up the halogen series, the closer the outer orbit
is to the nucleus, hence the greater the attraction and hence the higher the el
ectronegativity of the halogen. As a result, the further up the halogen series,
the more the reactivity of the halogens. Apart from that, the reactivity of halo
gens decreases with increasing atomic size as one goes down the halogen series c
olumn. This happens because halogens react primarily by receiving electrons from
less electronegative atoms, and the attraction for additional electrons is stro
nger when there are fewer filled electron shells between the valence electrons a
nd the atomic nucleus.
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Own Discussion From this experiment, it could be seen that halogens that react w
ith water form acids. For example, chlorine reacts with water to form hydrochlor
ic acid and hypochlorous acid (Cl2 + H2O
HCl + HClO). It could also be seen that
halogens react with sodium hydroxide to form salt and water. For example, chlor
ine reacts with sodium hydroxide to form salt and water (Cl2 + 2NaOH
2NaCl + 2Na
ClO + H2O). However, there are possible errors in this experiment such as the re
ading of the pH paper due to impurities contained in the test tube or on the pH
paper. For example, the pH value of the products of chlorine and water which was
hydrochloric acid and hypochlorous acid was pH 8. It is impossible for acids to
have a pH of over 6. As a result, this error could be caused by impurities that
had contaminated the reading of the pH paper in the test tube. This error could
be overcome by using a well washed test tube to remove impurities and contamina
tions and a clean pH paper that has not been used as well as a pH meter. Precaut
ion 1. Goggles must be worn when handling chemicals to avoid chemicals to enter
the eye. 2. Excess reagents are never to be returned to stock bottles. If taken
too much, the excess should be disposed of. 3. Lab coats should always be worn i
n the lab to avoid chemicals staining clothes. 4. Test tubes should be completel
y rinsed and washed to avoid any errors while conducting the experiment due to c
ontaminations by previous chemicals. 5. Long hair should be tied back neatly and
loose clothing should be secured when working with chemicals in the lab. Conclu
sion As a conclusion, halogens are very reactive elements because they almost ha
ve full shells with only one electron needed to achieve a stable electron config
uration. The reactivities of halogens decrease down the group such that chlorine
and bromine were able to be dissolved in water whereas iodine could not be. Hal
ogens react with sodium hydroxide to form salts and water and reacts with water
to form acids. All in all, this experiment was successful in showing the reactio
ns of halogens with water and sodium hydroxide through the readings and colour c
hanges of pH papers used.
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References 1. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/halogens-properties-of-halogens.htm
l 2. http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Inorganic_Chemistry/Descriptive_Chemistry/Main_
Grou p_Elements/Group_17%3A_The_Halogens#Introduction 3. http://spmchemistry.myh
ometuition.com/2013/01/halogens-react-with-sodiumhydroxide.html 4. http://www.rs
c.org/learnchemistry/wiki/index.php?title=TeacherExpt:Reactions_of_aqueous_solut
ions_of_the _halogens&oldid=4682 5. http://www.rsc.org/learnchemistry/wiki/Expt:
Reactions_of_aqueous_solutions_of_the_halogens
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