Chemistry in Teaching How does Sodium React with Water?

This paper was inspired by the lecture of Professor Pavel Jungwirth “Unravelling the Complex Nature of the Hydrated Electron”, delivered at the 24th Croatian Meeting of Chemists and Chemical Engineers, Zagreb, Croatia, 2015. It gives an insight into the mechanism of the reaction of alkali metals with water in its early stages, studied by high-speed camera and QM and MD modelling. It was found that the Coulomb explosion is a critical step in the reaction.