SODIUM

The chemical element - Sodium

The chemical element - Sodium

Most people have not ever glimpsed sodium metal. But it is almost unrealistic not to glimpse numerous compounds of sodium every day. Ordinary table salt, oven baking soda, oven baking dust, house lye (such as Drano), soaps and detergents, aspirin and other pharmaceuticals, and countless other buyer goods are sodium goods.

Sodium is a constituent of the alkali metals family. The alkali family comprises of elements in Group 1 (IA) of the periodic table. The periodic table is a journal that displays how chemical components are associated to one another. Other assembly 1 (IA) components are lithium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, and francium. The members of the alkali metals family are among the most active elements (Earnshaw, 1997).

Symbol

Na

Atomic Number

11

Atomic Mass

22.98977

Family

Group 1 (IA)

Alkali metal

Compounds

Compounds of sodium have been renowned, of course, all through human history. But sodium steel was not arranged until 1807. The cause is that sodium attaches itself very powerfully to other elements. Its compounds are very tough to shatter apart. It was not until 1807 that English pharmacist Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) discovered a way to extract sodium from its aggregates. Sodium steel itself has relatively few uses. It answers with other compounds effortlessly, occasionally explosively. However, numerous sodium compounds have numerous utilizes in commerce, medicine, and everyday life.

Discovery and naming

Sodium carbonate, or soda (Na2CO3), was likely the sodium compound best known to very old peoples. It is the most common ore of sodium found in nature (Carey, 1914).

This explains why glass was one of the first chemical goods made by humans. Glass is made by heating sodium carbonate and calcium oxide (lime) together. When the blend cools, it forms the hard, clear, transparent material called glass. Glass was being manufactured on a large scale in Egypt as early as 1370 B.C.

The Egyptians called soda natron. Much later, the Romans utilized a similar title for the aggregate, natrium. These titles explain the chemical emblem utilized for sodium, Na.

The name sodium probably began from an Arabic phrase suda, significance "headache." Soda was sometimes used as a therapy for headaches amidst early peoples. The phrase suda furthermore conveyed over into Latin to become sodanum, which also means "headache remedy."

In the early 1800s, Davy found a way to extract a number of hardworking components from their compounds. Sodium was one of these elements. Davy's method engaged melting an aggregate of the hardworking element, then transient an electric powered current through the molten (melted) compound. Davy utilized sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to make sodium.

Physical Properties

Sodium is silvery-white steel with a waxy appearance. It is suppling sufficient to be slash with a knife. The exterior is brilliant and glossy when first cut, but rapidly becomes boring as sodium reacts with oxygen in the air. A thin film of sodium oxide (Na 2 O) forms that hides the metal itself (Carey, 1914).

Sodium's dissolving issue is 97.82°C (208.1°F) and its boiling issue is 881.4°C (1,618°F). Its density is somewhat less than that of water, ...