Question

Question: The drain cleaner Drano consists of aluminum turnings mixed with sodium hydroxide. When it is added to water, the sodium hydroxide dissolves and releases heat. The aluminum reacts with water to generate bubbles of hydrogen and aqueous ions. Write a balanced net ionic equation for this reaction.

Short answer

Answer

The balanced net reaction of aluminum, sodium hydroxide and water

Step-by-step solution

Balanced equation

A balanced equation is an equation for a chemical reaction in which the number of atoms for each element in the reaction and the total charge is the same for both the reactants and the products.

The unbalanced reaction of sodium hydroxide

The unbalanced reaction of sodium hydroxide and water

$\text{NaOH}\left(s\right)+{\text{H}}_2\text{O}\left(l\right)\to {\text{Na}}^{+}\left(aq\right)+{\text{OH}}^{-}\left(aq\right)$

The unbalanced chemical reaction of aluminum and water

The unbalanced chemical reaction of aluminum and water

$\text{Al}\left(s\right)+{\text{H}}_2\text{O}\left(l\right)\to \text{Al}(\text{OH}{)}_3\left(aq\right)+{\text{H}}_2\left(g\right)$

The balanced net reaction. 

The balanced net reaction of aluminum, sodium hydroxide and water

$2\text{Al}\left(s\right)+\text{NaOH}\left(s\right)+6{\text{H}}_2\text{O}\left(l\right)\to 2{\text{Al}}^{3+}\left(aq\right)+{\text{Na}}^{+}\left(aq\right)+7{\text{OH}}^{-}\left(aq\right)+3{\text{H}}_2\left(g\right)$