Sodium

Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table, because it has a single electron in its outer shell, which it readily donates, creating a positively charged ion—the Na + cation.

The alkali metals consist of the chemical elements lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), caesium (Cs), and francium (Fr).

It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal.

Sodium, for example, becomes a nonmetal at pressure of just under two million times atmospheric pressure.

Sodium is the sixth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and exists in numerous minerals such as feldspars, sodalite, and rock salt (NaCl).

Halite ( or ), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride (Na Cl).

Sodium was first isolated by Humphry Davy in 1807 by the electrolysis of sodium hydroxide.

Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet (17 December 1778 – 29 May 1829) was a Cornish chemist and inventor, who is best remembered today for isolating, using electricity, a series of elements for the first time: potassium and sodium in 1807 and calcium, strontium, barium, magnesium and boron the following year, as well as discovering the elemental nature of chlorine and iodine.

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. The most important sodium compounds are table salt (NaCl), soda ash (Na 2 CO 3 ), baking soda (NaHCO 3 ), caustic soda (NaOH), sodium nitrate (NaNO 3 ), di- and tri-sodium phosphates, sodium thiosulfate (Na 2 S 2 O 3 ·5H 2 O), and borax (Na 2 B 4 O 7 ·10H 2 O).

It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions.

Sodium is the sixth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and exists in numerous minerals such as feldspars, sodalite, and rock salt (NaCl).

Feldspars (KAlSi 3 O 8 – NaAlSi 3 O 8 – CaAl 2 Si 2 O 8 ) are a group of rock-forming tectosilicate minerals that make up about 41% of the Earth's continental crust by weight.

Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin natrium) and atomic number 11.

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 chloride, commonly known as salt (though sea salt also contains other chemical salts), is an ionic compound with the chemical formula NaCl, representing a 1:1 ratio of sodium and chloride ions.

Loss of water from the ECF compartment increases the sodium concentration, a condition called hypernatremia.

Hypernatremia, also spelled hypernatraemia, is a high concentration of sodium in the blood.

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.

Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase (sodium–potassium adenosine triphosphatase, also known as the Na⁺/K⁺ pump or sodium–potassium pump) is an enzyme (an electrogenic transmembrane ATPase) found in the plasma membrane of all animal cells.

Sodium is an essential element for all animals and some plants.

The five major minerals in the human body are calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and magnesium.

Sodium is the sixth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and exists in numerous minerals such as feldspars, sodalite, and rock salt (NaCl).

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.

Many other metallic soaps are also useful, including those of aluminium, sodium, and mixtures thereof.

Sodium is the sixth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and exists in numerous minerals such as feldspars, sodalite, and rock salt (NaCl).

A light, relatively hard yet fragile mineral, sodalite is named after its sodium content; in mineralogy it may be classed as a feldspathoid.

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.

Potassium is chemically very similar to sodium, the previous element in group 1 of the periodic table.

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.

When the channels open, they allow an inward flow of sodium ions, which changes the electrochemical gradient, which in turn produces a further rise in the membrane potential.

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.

Homeostasis regulates, among others, the pH, sodium, potassium, and calcium concentrations in the ECF.

Sodium at standard temperature and pressure is a soft silvery metal that combines with oxygen in the air and forms grayish white sodium oxide unless immersed in oil or inert gas, which are the conditions it is usually stored in.

Sodium oxide is a chemical compound with the formula Na 2 O.

Sodium was first isolated by Humphry Davy in 1807 by the electrolysis of sodium hydroxide.

As a result, sodium usually forms ionic compounds involving the Na + cation.

These can be simple ions such as the sodium (Na + ) and chloride (Cl − ) in sodium chloride, or polyatomic species such as the ammonium and carbonate ions in ammonium carbonate.

In a flame test, sodium and its compounds glow yellow because the excited 3s electrons of sodium emit a photon when they fall from 3p to 3s; the wavelength of this photon corresponds to the D line at about 589.3 nm.

Sodium is a common component or contaminant in many compounds and its spectrum tends to dominate over others.

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.

The ion materials include sodium, potassium, chloride, and calcium.

Sodium is the sixth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and exists in numerous minerals such as feldspars, sodalite, and rock salt (NaCl).

These eight elements, summing to over 98% of the crust by weight, are, in order of decreasing abundance: oxygen, silicon, aluminium, iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium and potassium.

The most important sodium compounds are table salt (NaCl), soda ash (Na 2 CO 3 ), baking soda (NaHCO 3 ), caustic soda (NaOH), sodium nitrate (NaNO 3 ), di- and tri-sodium phosphates, sodium thiosulfate (Na 2 S 2 O 3 ·5H 2 O), and borax (Na 2 B 4 O 7 ·10H 2 O).

Sodium thiosulfate (sodium thiosulphate) is an inorganic compound with the formula Na 2 S 2 O 3.

The most important sodium compounds are table salt (NaCl), soda ash (Na 2 CO 3 ), baking soda (NaHCO 3 ), caustic soda (NaOH), sodium nitrate (NaNO 3 ), di- and tri-sodium phosphates, sodium thiosulfate (Na 2 S 2 O 3 ·5H 2 O), and borax (Na 2 B 4 O 7 ·10H 2 O).

Sodium nitrate is the chemical compound with the formula NaNO 3.