Bromine 35 Br 79.904(1)   Switch element to... actinium aluminium aluminum americium antimony argon arsenic astatine barium berkelium beryllium bismuth bohrium boron bromine cadmium caesium calcium californium carbon cerium cesium chlorine chromium cobalt copper curium darmstadtium dubnium dysprosium einsteinium erbium europium fermium fluorine francium gadolinium gallium germanium gold hafnium hassium helium holmium hydrogen indium iodine iridium iron krypton lanthanum lawrencium lead lithium lutetium magnesium manganese meitnerium mendelevium mercury molybdenum neodymium neon neptunium nickel niobium nitrogen nobelium osmium oxygen palladium phosphorus platinum plutonium polonium potassium praseodymium promethium protactinium radium radon rhenium rhodium roentgenium rubidium ruthenium rutherfordium samarium scandium seaborgium selenium silicon silver sodium strontium sulfur sulphur tantalum technetium tellurium terbium thallium thorium thulium tin titanium tungsten ununbium ununhexium ununoctium ununpentium ununquadium ununtrium uranium vanadium xenon ytterbium yttrium zinc zirconium Go adjacent... S Cl Ar Se Br Kr Te I Xe

The essentials

Description 

Here is a brief description of bromine.

• Standard state: liquid at 298 K
• Colour: red-brown, metallic lustre when solid
• Classification: Non-metallic
• Availability:

Bromine is the only liquid nonmetallic element. It is a member of the halogen group. It is a heavy, volatile, mobile, dangerous reddish-brown liquid. The red vapour has a strong unpleasant odour and the vapour irritates the eyes and throat. It is a bleaching. When spilled on the skin it produces painful sores. It is a serious health hazard, and maximum safety precautions should be taken when handling it.

Nearing Zero cartoon included by kind permission of Nick Kim.

Isolation

Bromine is available commercially so it is not normally necessary to make it in the laboratory. Bromine also occurs in seawater as the sodium salt but in much smaller quantities than chloride. It is recovered commercially through the treatment of seawater with chlorine gas and flushing through with air. In this treatment, bromide is oxidized to bromine by the chlorine gas. The principle of oxidation of bromide to bromine is shown by the addition of a little chlorine water to aqueous solutions of bromide. These become brown as elemental bromine forms.

2Br^- + Cl₂ → 2Cl^- + Br₂

Small amounts of bromine can also be made through the reaction of solid sodium bromide, NaBr, with concentrated sulphuric acid, H₂SO₄. The first stage is formation of HBr, which is a gas, but under the reaction conditions some of the HBr is oxidized by further H₂SO₄ to form bromine and sulphur dioxide. This reaction does not work with the corresponding chlorides and fluorides.

NaBr (s) + H₂SO₄ (l) → HBr (g) + NaHSO₄ (s)

2HBr (g) + H₂SO₄ (l) → Br₂ (g) + SO₂ (g) + 2H₂O (l)

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