What does sodium hydroxide do in bleach?

What does sodium hydroxide do in bleach?

Household bleach is, in general, a solution containing 3–8% sodium hypochlorite, by weight, and 0.01–0.05% sodium hydroxide; the sodium hydroxide is used to slow the decomposition of sodium hypochlorite into sodium chloride and sodium chlorate.

What happens when you mix chlorine and sodium hydroxide?

Reaction of chlorine with sodium hydroxide can be considered as an acid-base reaction. First, chlorine dissolve in water and produce hydrochloric acid (HCl) and hypochlorous acid (HOCl). These two acids react with NaOH separately to give NaCl and NaOCl respectively.

How is bleach made from chlorine?

The raw materials for making household bleach are chlorine, caustic soda, and water. The chlorine and caustic soda are produced by putting direct current electricity through a sodium chloride salt solution in a process called electrolysis.

Why is chlorine used in bleach?

Chlorine, a powerful oxidizer, is the active agent in many household bleaches. Since pure chlorine is a toxic corrosive gas, these products usually contain hypochlorite, which releases chlorine when needed. “Bleaching powder” usually means a formulation containing calcium hypochlorite.

Does sodium hypochlorite bleach?

Sodium hypochlorite, commonly known as bleach, is most frequently used as a disinfecting agent. It is a broad-spectrum disinfectant that is effective for the disinfection of viruses, bacteria, fungi, and mycobacterium.

How do you make sodium hypochlorite bleach?

To mix chlorine bleach combine 5.25 percent sodium hypochlorite and 94.75 percent water. To mix non-chlorine bleach, combine equal parts hydrogen peroxide and water.

Is sodium hypochlorite bleach?

Sodium hypochlorite, commonly referred to as bleach, has a variety of uses and is an excellent disinfectant/antimicrobial agent.

Can you mix caustic soda and bleach?

There will be no harm done by mixing the two, you won’t gas yourself or blow yourself up, but you might reduce the killing power of the bleach by holding the pH too high. It is probably pointless anyway, because bleach has a bit of caustic soda in it, which is a much more powerful cleaner than soda crystals.

What chemicals are used to make bleach?

What is bleach? Household bleach is actually a mixture of chemicals, Its main constituent is a solution of ~3-6% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), which is mixed with small amounts of sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, and calcium hypochlorite.

Is chlorine and sodium hypochlorite the same?

Sodium Hypochlorite is a liquid Chlorine and has around 10-12% available Chlorine. Available Chlorine (AC) is the amount of Chlorine released in the water to disinfect. Because of its liquid nature Sodium Hypo is usually applied to a pool through an automatic chemical feeder.

Can you use chlorine as bleach?

Instead of the strength used to make laundry bleach, pool chlorine usually has a 10% to 12.5% concentration. That means that if diluted properly, pool chlorine can be used just as safely as household bleach.

How do you make bleach?

To mix chlorine bleach combine 5.25 percent sodium hypochlorite and 94.75 percent water. To mix non-chlorine bleach, combine equal parts hydrogen peroxide and water. Pour mixture into the plastic container, and secure tightly. Shake to mix ingredients.