gcsescience.com 5 gcsescience.com
The Reaction between Sodium and Chlorine.
Chlorine has 7 electrons in its outer shell. It is in group 7 of the periodic table.
When an atom of chlorine
reacts it will gain one electron from sodium.
The outer shell of chlorine will then have 8
electrons and be stable.
The stable chloride ion will have an extra electron
and so will have an extra negative charge (shown as a - sign).
The force of attraction
between the oppositely
charged ions
is called an ionic bond.
The electrons are shown as dots and crosses to
show how they have
moved during the reaction. In reality all electrons are
identical.
The chemical equation for the above reaction is
sodium + chlorine 
sodium chloride.
2Na(s)
+ Cl2(g)
2NaCl(s)
Sodium chloride is an ionic compound. It forms a giant structure.
gcsescience.com Contents The Periodic Table Index Quizzes gcsescience.com
Copyright © 2008 Dr. Colin France. All Rights Reserved.
