Interaction | Reaction | Process     Data Page

In the lab, the addition of conc. sulfuric acid to solid sodium bromide gives "steamy white fumes" of HBr gas.

HOWEVER, the hydrogen bromide formed is further oxidised by sulfuric acid to bromine. The sulfuric acid is reduced to SO2.

So, the main observation is the formation of brown or orange fumes of bromine.

2
NaBr
  +  
H2SO4
         
2
HBr
  +  
Na2SO4
Reactant Page Go To Go To
Sodium bromide     Reactions Using    Reactions Forming
Sulfuric acid     Reactions Using    Reactions Forming
Hydrogen bromide     Reactions Using    Reactions Forming
Sodium sulfate     Reactions Using    Reactions Forming

Interaction, Reaction, Process defined as:
British A-Level Chemistry: A2
British A-Level Chemistry: AS
Proton transfer: Brønsted reaction
Sodium Halides + conc. H2SO4

© Mark R. Leach 1999 –

Queries, Suggestions, Bugs, Errors, Typos...

If you have any:

Queries
Comments
Suggestions
Suggestions for links
Bug, typo or grammatical error reports about this page,

please contact Mark R. Leach, the author, using mark@meta-synthesis.com