How is #"Na"_2# possible? If it is possible, is it a gas? And are all gases nonmetals?

1 Answer
Truong-Son N.
Jun 20, 2015

It does exist, as a gas. But there's both #Na_2# AND #Na_2^(-)#. You can see them here and here, respectively.

NIST has a record of #Na_2#'s and #Na_2^-#'s discovery as of 1989 via Photoelectron Spectroscopy by K.M. McHugh et al., and, if you look closely on the NIST pages, there are values for #Delta_fH_(gas)^o# of both sodium compounds, so yes, according to NIST, they're gases.

The original study can be found here.

And yes, by definition, while a non metal isn't necessarily a gas, a gas is not a metal (while it exists as a gas). At the very least, it's not solid at the moment. Sodium is indeed a metal that has gaseous diatomic and diatomic anionic forms, but we normally see it as a monatomic neutral metal with a radical electron in its #3s# orbital.

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