How is sodium chloride formed?

Answer 1

Sodium chloride is a salt, meaning that it is a chemical compound that consists of a positively charged cation, in this case the sodium ion, and a negatively charged anion, in this case the chloride ion.

Sodium chloride is an easily soluable salt, so when it is mixed into water, it will turn into chloride and sodium ions. Reversibly, when the water is evaporated from a solution containing sodium and chloride ions, sodium chloride will form.

An example of the formation of sodium chloride is when the strong base sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and the strong acid hydrochloric acid (HCl) are mixed into the same solution, which is then evaporated:

NaOH (aq) + HCl (aq) => Na+ (aq) + Cl- (aq) + H2O (l) => NaCl (s) + H2O (g)