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    Sodium History

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    Sherman Ong
    Sodium is the fourth most abundant element in the Earth's crust, comprising about 2.6%. It is obtained commercially through the electrolysis of sodium chloride. Sodium is a soft, bright metal that floats on water and reacts with it to produce hydrogen gas and sodium hydroxide. Sodium and its compounds have many important industrial uses, including in soap production, glassmaking, and the paper and chemical industries. Common sodium compounds of greatest industrial importance include sodium chloride, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydroxide, sodium nitrate, and borax.

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    Sodium History

    Uploaded by

    Sherman Ong
    38 views2 pages
    Sodium is the fourth most abundant element in the Earth's crust, comprising about 2.6%. It is obtained commercially through the electrolysis of sodium chloride. Sodium is a soft, bright metal that floats on water and reacts with it to produce hydrogen gas and sodium hydroxide. Sodium and its compounds have many important industrial uses, including in soap production, glassmaking, and the paper and chemical industries. Common sodium compounds of greatest industrial importance include sodium chloride, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydroxide, sodium nitrate, and borax.

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    Sodium is the fourth most abundant element in the Earth's crust, comprising about 2.6%. It is obtained commercially through the electrolysis of sodium chloride. Sodium is a soft, bright metal that floats on water and reacts with it to produce hydrogen gas and sodium hydroxide. Sodium and its compounds have many important industrial uses, including in soap production, glassmaking, and the paper and chemical industries. Common sodium compounds of greatest industrial importance include sodium chloride, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydroxide, sodium nitrate, and borax.

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    38 views2 pages

    Sodium History

    Uploaded by

    Sherman Ong
    Sodium is the fourth most abundant element in the Earth's crust, comprising about 2.6%. It is obtained commercially through the electrolysis of sodium chloride. Sodium is a soft, bright metal that floats on water and reacts with it to produce hydrogen gas and sodium hydroxide. Sodium and its compounds have many important industrial uses, including in soap production, glassmaking, and the paper and chemical industries. Common sodium compounds of greatest industrial importance include sodium chloride, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydroxide, sodium nitrate, and borax.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    SODIUM

    History

    (English, soda; Medieval Latin, sodanum, headache remedy) Long recognized in compounds, sodium
    was first isolated by Davy in 1807 by electrolysis of caustic soda.

    Sources

    Sodium is present in fair abundance in the sun and stars. The D lines of sodium are among the most
    prominent in the solar spectrum. Sodium is the fourth most abundant element on earth, comprising
    about 2.6% of the earth's crust; it is the most abundant of the alkali group of metals.

    It is now obtained commercially by the electrolysis of absolutely dry fused sodium


    chloride. This method is much cheaper than that of electrolyzing sodium
    hydroxide, as was used several years ago.

    Compounds

    The most common compound is sodium chloride, but it occurs in many other minerals, such as soda
    niter, cryolite, amphibole, zeolite, etc.

    Properties

    Sodium, like every reactive element, is never found free in nature. Sodium is a soft, bright, silvery
    metal which floats on water, decomposing it with the evolution of hydrogen and the formation of the
    hydroxide. It may or may not ignite spontaneously on water, depending on the amount of oxide and
    metal exposed to the water. It normally does not ignite in air at temperatures below 115 oC.

    Uses

    Metallic sodium is vital in the manufacture of esters and in the preparation of organic compounds. The
    metal may be used to improve the structure of certain alloys, to descale metal, and to purify molten
    metals.
    An alloy of sodium with potassium, NaK, is also an important heat transfer agent.

    Compounds

    Sodium compounds are important to the paper, glass, soap, textile, petroleum, chemical, and metal
    industries. Soap is generally a sodium salt of certain fatty acids. The importance of common salt to
    animal nutrition has been recognized since prehistoric times.

    Among the many compounds that are of the greatest industrial importance are common salt (NaCl),
    soda ash (Na2CO3), baking soda (NaHCO3), caustic soda (NaOH), Chile saltpeter (NaNO3), di- and tri-
    sodium phosphates, sodium thiosulfate (hypo, Na2S2O3 . 5H2O), and borax (Na2B4O7 . 10H2O).

    Isotopes

    Thirteen isotopes of sodium are recognized.

    Cost

    Metallic sodium is priced at about 15 to 20 cents/lb in quantity. Reagent grade (ACS) sodium in
    January 1990 cost about $35/lb. On a volume basis, it is the cheapest of all metals.

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