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Q. What is the common name of the compound CaOCl2?
Answer:- CaOCl2 is the chemical formula for calcium hypochlorite, an inorganic chemical compound. They’re also known as calcium oxychloride, and CaOCl2 but these are all chemical names used by scientists or chemistry experts.
Bleaching powder is the name commonly used for CaOCl2 or in layman language. As the chemical formula suggests it is the mixture of lime and calcium chloride. The action of chlorine gas (generated by the chlor-alkali process) on dry slaked lime produces bleaching powder. Its chemical reaction is:
Ca(OH)2 + Cl2 → CaOCl2 + H2O
Physical properties of bleaching powder are: It’s a pale yellowish powder with a strong chlorine odour. Cold water dissolves it. The lime in it is the little insoluble amount that remains after dilution.
Chemical properties of bleaching powder are: All of the chlorine in bleaching powder is liberated when it is treated with an excess of a dilute.
For example, when bleaching powder was exposed to an excessive amount of dilute sulphuric acid, all of the chlorine in it was liberated:
CaOCl2 + H2SO4 ⟶ CaSO4 + Cl2 + H2O
As a bleaching agent, the chlorine formed by the action of dilute acid on bleaching powder is used. As a result, chlorine is the true bleaching agent in bleaching powder.
Uses of Bleaching powder are as follows:
It’s used in the textile business to bleach cotton and linen, and in the paper sector to bleach wood pulp.
It’s also used in the laundry to bleach washed garments.
It is used to disinfect drinking water in order to make it safe to drink. That is, for making germ-free drinking water.
It’s utilised in the production of chloroform (CHCl3).
It’s used to keep wool from shrinking.
