Sodium bromide

Sodium bromide is a chemical compound. Its chemical formula is NaBr. It is made of sodium and bromide ions.

Properties
Sodium bromide is a white solid. It dissolves easily in water. When it is heated very strongly in air, it makes bromine gas. It also reacts with chlorine to make liquid bromine. 

Preparation
It is made by reacting hydrogen bromide with sodium hydroxide. It can be made by mixing sodium and bromine, although this reaction is very violent. 

Uses
It was used in medicine as a hypnotic and sedative. Potassium bromide is also used for this purpose. It is used to make other bromine compounds that are organic. It was used to make silver bromide. It can be used as a disinfectant with chlorine in pools. It can be used to make dense fluids for drilling oil wells.Michael J. Dagani, Henry J. Barda, Theodore J. Benya, David C. Sanders "Bromine Compounds" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2000.  

Safety
Sodium bromide is only toxic in large amounts, like sodium chloride.

 References 

Related pages
Sodium fluoride
Sodium chloride
Sodium iodide

Category:Sodium compounds
Category:Bromides