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Weekly Current Affairs: April week-2 - Sodium hypochlorite

Published: 6th Apr, 2020

To contain the spread of the Covid-19 infections, private societies have been opting for fumigation with 1% solution of sodium hypochlorite at open places including passages and staircases, which experts say can be more dangerous than beneficial.

  • To contain the spread of the Covid-19 infections, private societies have been opting for fumigation with 1% solution of sodium hypochlorite at open places including passages and staircases, which experts say can be more dangerous than beneficial.
  • Chlorine bleach, sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), is a very useful and inexpensive disinfectant. A disinfectant kills germs that can make people sick.
  • Sodium hypochlorite is just one of the common chlorine disinfectants; chlorine gas (Cl2) and solid calcium hypochlorite [Ca(OCl)2] are two others.

The Chemistry of Chlorination:

  • How does sodium hypochlorite defeat germs? The answer is in this chemical reaction:

       

  • HOCl, hypochlorous acid, formed when sodium hypochlorite is added to water, penetrates the normally resistant surfaces of microorganisms like Salmonella typhi, destroying them.
  • Whether the acid remains in the form of HOCl or as the ions H+ and OCl- depends on the acidity, or pH of the solution. (Ions were defined in October's Chlorine Compoundof the Month article.)
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