anybody knows the chemical equation for this?

 

I know bleach is NaClO and vinegar is CH3COOH. But I have no idea how to write a balanced equation for the two reacting with steel wool. Can anyone help me? Thanks

Bleach is not only NaClO, but also NaCl.

 

With vinegar, this results in formation of HOCl, which in turn reacts with chloride ions and excess vinegar to form Cl2, water, and sodium acetate.

 

The Cl2 in turn reacts with the iron to give iron (III) chloride.

 

With this info you should be able to write reaction equations. Show us some of your work and we will help you further.

I think the Cl2 will also react back with the water a bit and form some HCl. Granted, it won't be a whole lot, but I think it would be enough to be noticeable in the overall, messy reaction.

what the hell is HOCL? :S

Hypochlorous acid.

Alright, this is what I've come up with so far, keep in mind I'm doing O level chemistry.

 

NaCl+CH3COOH ----> HOCL+CL2+H20+CH3CO2NA

 

It's not balanced but is this the correct equation? I'm not to sure where to incorporate the steel wool in to it.

Alright, this is what I've come up with so far, keep in mind I'm doing O level chemistry.

 

NaCl+CH3COOH ----> HOCL+CL2+H20+CH3CO2NA

 

It's not balanced but is this the correct equation? I'm not to sure where to incorporate the steel wool in to it.

 

Here's some help.

 

Bleach is a mixture of NaOCl and NaCl in water.

Vinegar is CH3COOH (Acetic Acid) in water.

When you mix an acidic compound with bleach you get a mixture of HOCl, and Cl2 along with NaCl.

When Cl2 mixes with water, you get a mixture of HCl and HOCl and dissolved chlorine gas (Cl2).

Steel wool is comprised of Iron Metal (Fe).

 

So knowing what components you're mixing and what their products are, you should be able to come up with the reaction that takes place.

this May(not) be helpfull, but if you can identify the End product(s) sometimes working Backwards from there helps too

k lets start with the first reaction.

NaOCl(aq)+NaCl(aq)+CH3COOH(aq)------>HOCL(aq)+Cl2(g)+NaCl(aq)+CH3CO2Na(aq)

 

Am I on the right track?

you may get some Chlorine Dioxide liberated too

YT, no ClO2 is formed in this reaction.

 

What is formed is Cl2, H2O and Na-acetate.

 

2CH3COOH + NaClO + NaCl ---> Cl2 + 2CH3COONa + H2O

 

@konishewah: The Cl2 in turn reacts with Fe. That reaction you should write down yourself.

 

The reaction between Cl2 and Fe is independent from the first reaction. You cannot write a single reaction equation with all chems in it in an unambiguous way, the solution space of all possible reaction equations is 2-dimensional, so it is best to write down two independent equations, which together describe what happens.

well Fe+Cl2--->FeCl2

Where does the HOCL come from? And how does this speed up the rusting of the speed wool? Sorry if I'm coming across as leeching but I just want to understand what's happening with the reaction. I hate throwing chemicals together and not understanding what's actually taking place.....

konishewah-

Acetic acid in the vinegar liberates hypochlorous(sp) acid from the sodium hypochlorite. All stronger acids liberate weaker acids from their slats. To you second question its not actually rusting as that would be the formation of Fe2O3, its making iron chlorate, I wouldn’t be surprised if you get some iron acetate also.

You don't make iron chlorate! You make iron(III) chloride.

 

It indeed is true that acetic acid liberates HOCl from the hypochlorite:

 

CH3COOH + ClO(-) ---> CH3COO(-) + HOCl

 

The HOCl then in turn reacts with chloride and another molecule of acetic acid to form Cl2:

 

CH3COOH + Cl(-) + HOCl ---> CH3COO(-) + H2O + Cl2

 

These reactions, however, are very incomplete, because acetic acid itself also is a weak acid (but not as weak as HOCl). You certainly won't see strong bubbling of Cl2, but you definitely will smell it.

Right woelen, sorry, i put the wrong ending on the iron salt.