if i have like 1 cup of table salt and i am putting electricity into it how much voltage should I put in and how much chlorine will come out? how long do i electrify the thing? How can i take a precaution to not get killed by the chlorine.

You are never going to get sodium that way. You need temperatures of 800 C an inert atmosphere, and very high currents on the order of 50-100A at 12V.

Edit: You need molten salt!

[This message has been edited by tryptamine (edited 11-17-2002).]

You need molten NaOH, much easier. Melts at a much lower temperature.

I've done the molten NaOH thing in my lab. I just thought I'd give it a whirl, so I threw it together and it worked. I got a small lump of sodium the size of a grain of rissoto. If I want some more I'm going to build an apparatus that prevents the molten alkali from splattering all over the place, it was all over me my face everywhere. It was like it was volatile.

So curious, I know that when you buy one of those IAs, they come in kerosene or some other inert organic thing. How did you get the pure Na to collect in the kerosene?
Especially, since the reaction is so hot, I would think that just as the reaction occured, it would turn into a peroxide. Tell me why I'm wrong.

Why do you think the sodium would oxidise at this temperature? Sure a little oxidation takes place but not really that much.

First the sodium is scooped out of the molten lye and then you submerge it in the petroleum.

The temperatures we are dealing with are only around 300C.

Don't fuck with molten lye unless you know what you are doing and or you already have scars from previous experiments.

[This message has been edited by tryptamine (edited 11-21-2002).]

Haha, I win, I see you deleted your peroxide post.
Word.

Yeah it was a brain fart, but still what I said this time stands.