What is the difference between sodium hydroxide and aluminum hydroxide

In the energy sector, sodium hydroxide is used in fuel cell production. Fuel cells work like batteries to cleanly and efficiently produce electricity for a range of applications, including transportation; materials handling; and stationary, portable and emergency backup power applications.

Epoxy resins, manufactured with sodium hydroxide, are used in wind turbines. Municipal water treatment facilities use sodium hydroxide to control water acidity and to help remove heavy metals from water. Sodium hydroxide is also used to produce sodium hypochlorite , a water disinfectant. Sodium hydroxide is used in several food processing applications, such as curing foods like olives or helping to brown Bavarian-style pretzels, giving them their characteristic crunch.

Sodium hydroxide is used to remove skins from tomatoes, potatoes and other fruits and vegetables for canning and also as an ingredient in food preservatives that help prevent mold and bacteria from growing in food. In many paper making processes , wood is treated with a solution containing sodium sulfide and sodium hydroxide.

This helps dissolve most of the unwanted material in the wood, leaving relatively pure cellulose, which forms the basis of paper. In the paper recycling process, sodium hydroxide is used to separate the ink from the paper fibers allowing the paper fibers to be reused again. Sodium hydroxide is also used to refine raw materials for wood products such as cabinets and furniture and in wood bleaching and cleaning.

Sodium hydroxide is used to extract alumina from naturally occurring minerals. Alumina is used to make aluminum and a variety of products including foil, cans, kitchen utensils, beer kegs and airplane parts. In building and construction, aluminum is used in materials that enable building facades and window frames.

The common name for sodium hydroxide is caustic soda. It is an ionic compound. Aluminum hydroxide is an amphoteric hydroxide that has both acidic and basic properties.

The chemical formula of aluminum hydroxide is Al OH 3. The main difference between sodium hydroxide and aluminum hydroxide is that sodium hydroxide is a basic compound whereas aluminum hydroxide is an amphoteric compound. Sodium hydroxide is a metal hydroxide having the chemical formula NaOH. It is a strong base. The molar mass of sodium hydroxide is Sodium hydroxide is a solid at room temperature and appears as white, waxy crystals which are opaque.

It is odorless. Figure 1: Sodium Hydroxide Solid Compound. Since sodium hydroxide is a strongly basic compound, it can cause severe burns. It is highly water-soluble. This means that using sodium hydroxide can give a positive result for aluminium ions, but it cannot distinguish between calcium and magnesium ions. A green precipitate forms when dilute sodium hydroxide solution is added to a sample in solution.

Identify the metal ion present in the original solution. The precipitation reactions can be represented using ionic equations , which only include the ions which are involved in the formation of the precipitate. They ignore the spectator ions , which are present but not involved. For example:. In this equation, we can see that:.