mercury cathode flow into the cell at the same time.
At the anode, chloride ions from the saturated brine are oxidized to form chlorine gas:
2Cl-(aq) Cl2(g) + 2e-
The chlorine produced is collected from the anode, cooled, dried , compressed and packaged into bottles.
At the cathode, sodium ions from the saturated brine are reduced to from sodium atoms:
Na+(aq) + e- Na(s)
The sodium atoms produced dissolve in the liquid mercury to form a sodium amalgam (a loose liquid alloy of mercury and sodium). The amalgam is