Final answer:
When sodium reacts with water, it forms sodium hydroxide and hydrogen gas. Sodium metal and water are the reactants, and aqueous sodium hydroxide and molecular hydrogen gas are the products.
Step-by-step explanation:
When sodium reacts with water, it forms sodium hydroxide and hydrogen gas. Therefore, the correct answer to the question is B. hydroxide. In the reaction, sodium metal and water are the reactants, while sodium hydroxide and hydrogen gas are the products. The equation that represents this chemical reaction is:
2Na (s) + 2H₂O (l) → 2NaOH (aq) + H₂ (g)
Solid sodium reacts with liquid water to produce aqueous sodium hydroxide and molecular hydrogen gas. This type of reaction is common with metals that can replace the hydrogen in water, which includes all group 1 metals like sodium.
The reaction is a special case of an ion exchange reaction where the sodium from sodium hydroxide and hydrogen from water form sodium ions and hydroxide ions, which combine to form aqueous sodium hydroxide.