Sodium

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Sodium is a highly reactive chemical element categorized under the alkali metals group in the periodic table. Represented by the symbol ‘Na’, it is the sixth most common element on Earth. Sodium plays a vital role in human health, regulating blood pressure and volume, and aiding in muscle and nerve function. It is most commonly recognized in its compound form – sodium chloride, which is common table salt. However, it is also found in many other substances like baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and soda ash (sodium carbonate). Despite its crucial roles, excessive sodium intake can lead to health issues like hypertension.

Sodium (Wikipedia)

Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin natrium) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable isotope is 23Na. The free metal does not occur in nature and must be prepared from compounds. Sodium is the sixth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and exists in numerous minerals such as feldspars, sodalite, and halite (NaCl). Many salts of sodium are highly water-soluble: sodium ions have been leached by the action of water from the Earth's minerals over eons, and thus sodium and chlorine are the most common dissolved elements by weight in the oceans.

Sodium, 11Na
Na (Sodium).jpg
Sodium
Appearancesilvery white metallic
Standard atomic weight Ar°(Na)
  • 22.98976928±0.00000002
  • 22.990±0.001 (abridged)
Sodium in the periodic table
Hydrogen Helium
Lithium Beryllium Boron Carbon Nitrogen Oxygen Fluorine Neon
Sodium Magnesium Aluminium Silicon Phosphorus Sulfur Chlorine Argon
Potassium Calcium Scandium Titanium Vanadium Chromium Manganese Iron Cobalt Nickel Copper Zinc Gallium Germanium Arsenic Selenium Bromine Krypton
Rubidium Strontium Yttrium Zirconium Niobium Molybdenum Technetium Ruthenium Rhodium Palladium Silver Cadmium Indium Tin Antimony Tellurium Iodine Xenon
Caesium Barium Lanthanum Cerium Praseodymium Neodymium Promethium Samarium Europium Gadolinium Terbium Dysprosium Holmium Erbium Thulium Ytterbium Lutetium Hafnium Tantalum Tungsten Rhenium Osmium Iridium Platinum Gold Mercury (element) Thallium Lead Bismuth Polonium Astatine Radon
Francium Radium Actinium Thorium Protactinium Uranium Neptunium Plutonium Americium Curium Berkelium Californium Einsteinium Fermium Mendelevium Nobelium Lawrencium Rutherfordium Dubnium Seaborgium Bohrium Hassium Meitnerium Darmstadtium Roentgenium Copernicium Nihonium Flerovium Moscovium Livermorium Tennessine Oganesson
Li

Na

K
neonsodiummagnesium
Atomic number (Z)11
Groupgroup 1: hydrogen and alkali metals
Periodperiod 3
Block  s-block
Electron configuration[Ne] 3s1
Electrons per shell2, 8, 1
Physical properties
Phase at STPsolid
Melting point370.944 K ​(97.794 °C, ​208.029 °F)
Boiling point1156.090 K ​(882.940 °C, ​1621.292 °F)
Density (near r.t.)0.968 g/cm3
when liquid (at m.p.)0.927 g/cm3
Critical point2573 K, 35 MPa (extrapolated)
Heat of fusion2.60 kJ/mol
Heat of vaporization97.42 kJ/mol
Molar heat capacity28.230 J/(mol·K)
Vapor pressure
P (Pa) 1 10 100 1 k 10 k 100 k
at T (K) 554 617 697 802 946 1153
Atomic properties
Oxidation states−1, 0, +1 (a strongly basic oxide)
ElectronegativityPauling scale: 0.93
Ionization energies
  • 1st: 495.8 kJ/mol
  • 2nd: 4562 kJ/mol
  • 3rd: 6910.3 kJ/mol
  • (more)
Atomic radiusempirical: 186 pm
Covalent radius166±9 pm
Van der Waals radius227 pm
Color lines in a spectral range
Spectral lines of sodium
Other properties
Natural occurrenceprimordial
Crystal structurebody-centered cubic (bcc)
Body-centered cubic crystal structure for sodium
Speed of sound thin rod3200 m/s (at 20 °C)
Thermal expansion71 µm/(m⋅K) (at 25 °C)
Thermal conductivity142 W/(m⋅K)
Electrical resistivity47.7 nΩ⋅m (at 20 °C)
Magnetic orderingparamagnetic
Molar magnetic susceptibility+16.0×10−6 cm3/mol (298 K)
Young's modulus10 GPa
Shear modulus3.3 GPa
Bulk modulus6.3 GPa
Mohs hardness0.5
Brinell hardness0.69 MPa
CAS Number7440-23-5
History
Discovery and first isolationHumphry Davy (1807)
Symbol"Na": from New Latin natrium, coined from German Natron, 'natron'
Isotopes of sodium
Main isotopes Decay
abun­dance half-life (t1/2) mode pro­duct
22Na trace 2.6019 y β+ 22Ne
23Na 100% stable
24Na trace 14.9560 h β 24Mg
 Category: Sodium
| references

Sodium was first isolated by Humphry Davy in 1807 by the electrolysis of sodium hydroxide. Among many other useful sodium compounds, sodium hydroxide (lye) is used in soap manufacture, and sodium chloride (edible salt) is a de-icing agent and a nutrient for animals including humans.

Sodium is an essential element for all animals and some plants. Sodium ions are the major cation in the extracellular fluid (ECF) and as such are the major contributor to the ECF osmotic pressure and ECF compartment volume.[citation needed] Loss of water from the ECF compartment increases the sodium concentration, a condition called hypernatremia. Isotonic loss of water and sodium from the ECF compartment decreases the size of that compartment in a condition called ECF hypovolemia.

By means of the sodium-potassium pump, living human cells pump three sodium ions out of the cell in exchange for two potassium ions pumped in; comparing ion concentrations across the cell membrane, inside to outside, potassium measures about 40:1, and sodium, about 1:10. In nerve cells, the electrical charge across the cell membrane enables transmission of the nerve impulse—an action potential—when the charge is dissipated; sodium plays a key role in that activity.

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