Hello everyone. Today, I will tell you about such a dangerous gas as Chlorine
In its gaseous form pure Chlorine, for the first time, was obtained in the 18th century (1774)
by the Swedish chemist Carl Scheele
by the reaction of pyrolusite mineral (Manganese Dioxide) and Hydrochloric acid.
For my experiments, however I chose a different approach
a more efficient method of producing Chlorine
As the main reagent I am going to use Trichloroisocyanuric acid
which is also used as a disinfectant in swimming pools.
When a tablet of this substance is thrown into a swimming pool, it gradually dissolves
slowly decomposing into Chlorine and Cyanuric acid.
To produce Chlorine, I chopped the tablet of Trichloroisocyanuric acid
after which, I started slowly adding the Hydrochloric acid to it.
In an acidic environment this acid decomposes with the release of a large amount of Chlorine
which has a yellow-green color.
I'm storing the released gas in a flask, as Chlorine is almost three times heavier than air
from where it can be easily collected, from the bottom of the flask.
Because of this property, Chlorine was used as a chemical weapon in the first world war
due to the fact that Chlorine easily filled pits and trenches
especially when soldiers were there - if you accidentally inhale Chlorine at high concentration
that will fall in the lungs
a mixture of acids will instantly form, which can damage the tender membrane
as well, of course, a stop of breathing.
Therefore this gas shall be treated with an extreme caution.
Do not repeat the experiments seen in this video.
After filling all the flask with Chlorine, we can now observe which properties this gas possess.
From the chemical point of view Chlorine is a powerful oxidizer -
that is, it can easily take away electrons from certain substances
for example, the metallic Lithium.
I heated Lithium with a burner so that it could melt and catch fire
after which, I lowered it into the flask with the Chlorine atmosphere.
It is immediately evident that, in the flask with Chlorine, Lithium burns much brighter and faster
forming smoke of Lithium Chloride.
The same will happen with metallic Sodium
which, when burned in pure Chlorine, will form the well known to everybody substance, Sodium Chloride
or the common table salt.
This in my opinion is a most unusual way of obtaining table salt.
Remarkably, the well known and used by many salt consists of the separately active substances Chlorine and Sodium
one of which explodes in water and the other can easily cause poisoning.
It just takes them to transfer one electron and one of the most stable substances that we eat every day is formed.
Let us return to the properties of Chlorine.
I'm pretty sure some people know that the fine Iron in the form of cotton wool can burn in air.
The same thing happens with iron wool when burning in an atmosphere of Chlorine.
In this reaction it produces brown smoke of Iron Chloride
a substance used, for example, for etching in printed circuit boards.
Also, Copper wire can burn in the atmosphere of Chlorine.
Once it is only slightly heated with a lighter and lowered into the flask with Chlorine
Copper immediately begins to oxidize to form Copper Chloride
which also forms brown smoke in the flask.
However, with the Oxygen in the air Copper does not react this way
because of the formation of an oxide film on the surface of the metal.
There is another interesting reaction with Chlorine
If Antimony powder is added to the flask filled with Chlorine then, in such an aggressive environment
Antimony spontaneously ignites, burning with the formation of Antimony Chlorides.
Also, if you throw Calcium Carbide into a cylinder filled with water and then start letting Chlorine into this vessel
you can observe an interesting effect - the burning of Acetylene with Chlorine underwater.
Chlorine can react at room temperature with Acetylene, forming Carbon and Hydrogen Chloride
as well as a series of intermediate halogen derivatives of Acetylene.
Besides, Chlorine can oxidize another halogen...
Iodine.
This can be proven by pouring a bit of chlorine bleach into the Potassium Iodide solution
as the bleach contains a bit of dissolved Chlorine in the water.
As a result of this reaction, free Iodine is formed
coloring the solution into a dark color.
To better see the Iodine, I have added a bit of toluene into the test tube
in which Iodine dissolves better, and has a purple color.
And the last reaction with Chlorine - that features red Phosphorus.
If you put a bit of red Phosphorus into the flask with Chlorine then the reaction will begin by itself.
The Phosphorus will self-ignite in Chlorine burning with a dull flame
thus forming smoke from Phosphorus Chlorides.
One of the products of the reaction
is Phosphorus Pentachloride, which is one of the indispensable reagents
in organic chemistry, for the production of halogenated carboxylic acids
which is an important part of the production of certain medications.
Nowadays pure Chlorine finds many uses
One of the most important ones is the production of chlorine bleaches.
The bleaching properties of Chlorine you can perfectly see
in the example of the discoloration of a flower in a flask filled with this gas.
However, it's not the Chlorine itself that does the bleaching
but rather its compounds.
The reaction of Chlorine with water forms Hypochlorous acid and atomic Oxygen
which easily destroys organic dyes contained in natural sources.
Chlorine reacted with the water contained in the petals of the flower and discolored them
however pure Chlorine is almost never used for bleaching because of its hazardousness.
For this purpose Sodium Hypochlorite is produced, by the electrolysis of a solution of table salt.
The Chlorine formed at the anode partially dissolves in alkaline environment
forming Sodium Hypochlorite and Sodium Chloride.
Also, the disinfection of the drinking water flowing from your tap doesn't go without Chlorine
since out of the halogens Chlorine is the most powerful oxidizer besides Fluorine.
Also, this gas is used in the production of a very common plastic, Poly-Vinyl Chloride
from which plastic windows, pipes and insulation for wires are made.
In the end, we can say that the dangerous gas Chlorine nonetheless has a huge importance
in the manufacture of everyday household items
and also vital for our body.
Now you know a little bit more about one of the halogen gases.
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