Sodium (Na) :: Science Chemistry

sodium (Na)sodium has an atomic number of 11 and a mass of about 23g. It is a silvery white-metallic element classified under the alkali metals. sodium has been know since early times and was employ by the people of Mesopotamia and Egypt to make glasses. Sodium is the one-sixth most common element found on the earth. It is usually not found in nature but more oft in compounds such(prenominal) as salt (NaCl). Sodium conducts heat and electrical energy easily. Without this element life could not exist. Each compound is apply for a certain reason. About 2.8 percent of the earths crust contains this element making it the sixth most common in the earths crust. Sodium is found in compounds among dry out lake beds, underground, and as healthy as in seawater in such places as Belarus, China, France, Germany, India, Russia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and the United States. Sodium is an extremely chemically combat-ready element. If have with water it tends to react vigorously. For exampl e . Since, sodium is such a dangerous element it has to be handled with care and stored airtight meaning without oxygen. Sodium was first extracted into pure form in 1807 by an English apothecary known as Sir Humphry Davy. He enforced the process of electrolysis where an electrical catamenia is passed through a molten sodium compound such as sodium chloride, sodium was first extracted into its pure form. Many manufacturers today serene use electricity to obtain sodium. Sodium is still highly fabricate for many industrial and commercial uses. Sodium has commercial uses as well as industrial uses. From soaps to fertilizers, sodium is used to make water softeners, textiles, and is used as well as to relieve stomach acid, sodium bicarbonate a white crystalline weakly alkaline salt NaHCO 3 used peculiarly in baking 1 powders, fire extinguishers, and medicine. (Definition from social structure and Matter, Glossary) Photographers use sodium thiosulphate a hygroscopic crystalline sa lt Na 2 S 2 O 3 used especially as a fixing agent (Definition from Structure and Matter, Glossary)and a decrease or bleaching agent to fix photographic images on paper. Sodium in its pure form also has industrial uses such as in catalyst which help in making synthetic rubber. Sodium is combined with other metals to produce titanium zirconium and many other chemicals. It is used in the manufacture of tetraethyl lead and some power plants even use it in liquid form to cool nuclear reactors.