elementcollector1

Then experiment for weeks/months. If time is your concern, that's not scientific: Some experiments last longer than lifetimes.

We've seen (and mentioned) that video several times throughout the thread. It is an interesting one, but an ever-present problem is how to collect the sodium metal at the end.

Again, maybe that is what happened, but it's not scientific to make up a story - which you pointed out in the story. And besides, making up a reaction-mechanism, however wrong it may be, is the first step to pinning down the real thing. Who knows, maybe this hypothetical chemist got it on the first try. Maybe not. We'll need to think of some tests to prove that the originally proposed reaction, as it stands, is wrong, and that a different reaction would be better. I'm interested in cutting the Mg content in half, but I still don't understand what that would do. Another test would be to simply heat up KOR under solvent and see if any K forms.

Ahaha, no. Not the last part, by any means - no one has found a way to make the tertiary-alcohol synthesis work for Na. And I'm not sure about the decomposition part - that would require testing with pure potassium tert-butoxide or some such, as opposed to the usual reaction mix. As for the story, I admit it'd be humorous, but unless I see some citations, I'll think of it as nothing more than a story. Chalk it up to scientific skepticism, but something you just came up with in your head does not make itself true. Also, isn't it a bit redundant to synthesize Na metal from K metal? Most experimenters want Na for the drying power or the reaction in water, and K is better in both respects. As for element collectors, they might go after Na from K, but would probably go with Na from Mg or electrolysis first. The formation of sodium from electrolysis has a few problems with a simple, yet difficult solution. The first is the 'splattering' that tends to happen when NaOH is melted, and this is by no means fun. The second is the sodium immediately oxidizing at the surface once formed, resulting in decreased or no yield. Both of these could be solved with an inert atmosphere - but setting that up can be a challenge in itself. Sodium from Mg via the reaction between NaOH and Mg metal can be viable only if, once again, there is no oxygen or moisture in the reaction container. Nighthawkinlight, who seems to have 'pioneered' this method, simply used a closed steel pot, which could be modified by an inlet and outlet tube and hooked up to an argon tank (the lid would also possibly need to be modified to seal better). 'Remember, good science always wins in the end' I attempt to educate myself through actual testing - show me a test to prove some calculations, I'll do it and post the results. There are plenty of papers out there that can claim anything they want, but I would much rather see what they're talking about firsthand. To be honest, I did 'jump the gun' on the nascent/chemisorbed hydrogen, and for that I apologize, having no background on the subject but your previous posts and subsequent reactions. I'd be interested to look at the reaction between NaCl and K, but would first have to check if the reaction is energetically favorable in terms of enthalpy. If it does work, and one can narrow down a good source and repetition of tert-butanol and K formation, then it would be a much simpler and possibly less dangerous path to sodium than I have seen. I wonder if such a reaction could work for lithium, or even rubidium and cesium as well...

Dear AJKOER: Just because your reactions met with negative feedback on one forum, does not mean you can post them on the other. There's a reason we don't believe in this 'nascent hydrogen'. Seriously, woelen even suspended your account because you wouldn't stop postulating. Does that send any message to you? Maybe one about hijacking threads with your theories? Besides, this thread is about sodium. So unless you have a post to make about sodium, move your post to a new thread, titled 'Nascent Hydrogen in K Production' or something, not an already existing thread about a similar element.

Try boiling bromine. Much, MUCH worse.

If you wish to remove mercury from sodium, distillation is your best option. Mercury boils at 357 C, while sodium boils much higher at 883 C. A good hotplate can easily achieve 360 C, and a ground-glass setup would probably help. Plus, you get your mercury back!

In the immortal words of Barack Obama, YES WE CAN. I've made sodium metal several times, the result is impure but works. In case anyone wants to know how, it was a NaOH and Mg thermite reaction.

Hey, I'm elementcollector1. As my name implies, I collect the elements of the Periodic Table. Favorite scientific branch is inorganic chemistry, and a fun fact about me is that I've written a pamphlet on collecting elements 1-83, and 95. So... hi.