Question

The chemical formula of calcium hypochlorite is:
A.${\text{COC}}{{\text{l}}_{\text{2}}}$
B.${\text{Ca(ClO}}{{\text{)}}_{\text{2}}}$
C.${\text{Ca(Cl}}{{\text{O}}_{\text{3}}}{{\text{)}}_{\text{2}}}$
D.${\text{Ca(Cl}}{{\text{O}}_{\text{4}}}{{\text{)}}_{\text{2}}}$

Answer 1

Calcium hypochlorite is a chemical compound commonly referred to as bleaching powder or calcium oxychloride.
It is an ionic compound and made up of calcium cation and two hypochlorite anion
The salt is stable at room temperature but gets decomposed in the presence of moisture.
The salt is commercially available in both forms: hydrous and anhydrous.

Complete step by step answer:
Calcium hypochlorite have one calcium ion (${\text{C}}{{\text{a}}^{\text{ + }}}$) with a positive charge of 2 and two hypochlorite ions (${\text{Cl}}{{\text{O}}^{\text{ - }}}$) with each having a negative charge of 1 units.
Therefore two hypochlorite ions will get attached to one calcium ion to give a neutral entity.
Thus the chemical formula of calcium hypochlorite is ${\text{Ca(ClO}}{{\text{)}}_{\text{2}}}$.
Calcium hypochlorite is produced from a reaction between chlorine gas and calcium hydroxide on an industrial scale:
${\text{2Ca(OH}}{{\text{)}}_{\text{2}}}{\text{ + 2C}}{{\text{l}}_{\text{2}}} \to {\text{Ca(ClO}}{{\text{)}}_{\text{2}}}{\text{ + }}{{\text{H}}_{\text{2}}}{\text{O + CaC}}{{\text{l}}_{\text{2}}}$
Physical properties of Calcium hypochlorite:
It is whitish grey solid at room temperature
It is less soluble in hard water as compared to soft water. It reacts with water when dissolved.
Calcium hypochlorite has a strong smell, due to its reaction with the water molecules present in the atmosphere.
Chemical properties of calcium hypochlorite:
Calcium hypochlorite readily accepts ${{\text{H}}^{\text{ + }}}$ and therefore acts as a strong base.
It is a powerful oxidizing agent because of its ability to accept an electron.

Hence, option B is the correct answer.

Note: Some of the uses of calcium hypochlorite:
It is often used as a water disinfectant agent due to the availability of chlorine.
Finds a variety of uses in organic chemistry because of its oxidizing property.
It can also be used in a haloform reaction to give chloroform.