The Element Sodium


Sodium is very soft at room temperature that it can be easily cut with a knife. On the other hand, it will rapidly tarnish upon exposure to air. It also reacts exothermically with water. Another characteristic of sodium and its components is that when introduced to a burning flame, it turns the flame in to a bright yellow. Due to its high reactivity, sodium can never be found in nature as a free element. All occurrences of sodium in nature can thus be found in the form of sodium-compounds only.

The most common industrial uses of sodium include use of sodium in soaps together with fatty acids, to de-scale metals, In sodium vapor lamps, in combination with alloys to improve certain structures, as a reducing agent in organic synthesis and to purify molten metals.

Atomic Number & Chemical Properties


Element Basics:

Chemical Symbol: Na
Atomic Number: 11
Atomic Weight: 22.989768
Element Classification: Alkali Metal
Discovered By: Sir Humphrey Davy
Date of Discovery: 1807 (England)
Origin of Name: Medieval Latin: sodanum, (headache remedy); symbol from Latin natrium, (sodium carbonate).

How to Recognize it at a Party:

Soft, silvery-white metal

Seriously Atomic Information:

Density (g/cc): 0.971
Melting Point (°K): 370.96
Boiling Point (°K): 1156.1
Atomic Radius (pm): 190
Atomic Volume (cc/mol): 23.7
Covalent Radius (pm): 154
Ionic Radius: 97 (+1e)
Pauling Negativity Number: 0.93
First Ionizing Energy (kJ/mol): 495.6
Oxidation States: 1
Electronic Configuration: [Ne] 3s1

Getting Intimate with Sodium:

Lattice Structure: Body-Centered Cubic (BCC)
Lattice Constant (Å): 4.230
Lattice C/A Ratio: n/a
Specific Heat (@20°C J/g mol): 1.222
Fusion Heat (kJ/mol): 2.64
Evaporation Heat (kJ/mol): 97.9
Thermal Conductivity (@25°C W/m K):
Debye Temperature (°K): 150.00


Society's Questions About Sodium:

Have you ever wondered what everyone else in the world thinks about Sodium? Is anyone else looking for it too? If so, why? What do they want?

The following list shows the most common online questions about the element Sodium. Are your questions the same or different from everyone else's?

Top Sodium Topics:

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