How to Find Out More About Sodium

Sodium, the eleventh element in the periodic table, is best known for exploding with water. This element has much to offer students not only of science but also of history. A little research will produce fun facts about the uses, dangers and history of this fascinating element.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• A periodic chart

1. Research the origins of sodium and find out why it is named for the English word "soda," after caustic soda (sodium hydroxide). Also, make sure to look for facts on how sodium's symbol, Na, comes from the neo-Latin word "natrium," a sodium salt.
2. Look for information about why the discovery of sodium is credited to Sir Humphry Davy in 1807 through the electrolysis of sodium hydroxide.
3. Read about geology to understand why sodium is not found free in nature, but that sodium compounds are common. Research why salt is mined in Canada, China, Germany, Russia and the United States, and study mining and chemical manufacturing techniques to learn how it is obtained commercially through electrolysis of fused salt.
4. Search chemistry and physics Web sites and books to learn about the best-known aspect of sodium—its extreme reactivity with water. Make sure to look for facts about sodium's appearance, reactivity and other chemical and physical properties.
5. Look for information on chemical properties to understand why sodium is used in preparing many different organic compounds and is an important heat-transfer agent. Study industrial applications, including how metallic sodium is used to purify molten metals, make drugs, organic compounds and dyes. Research additional uses to learn how sodium is an efficient means of producing light from electricity when used as a vapor in lamps.
6. Search for information on biochemistry to learn why sodium is essential for life forms and is necessary for the functioning of the nervous system and the brain in animals.

Tips & Warnings

• Sodium is highly explosive in water, poisonous and must be handled carefully. Many compounds of sodium also are poisonous and corrosive. Sodium must be stored in an inert atmosphere or under mineral oil.