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Article: Sodium
- Article from:
- Chemistry: Foundations and Applications
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Sodium
melting point:
97.8
°
C
boiling point:
883
°
C
density:
0.971 g/cm
3
most common ions:
Na
+
Sodium is a soft, silvery alkali
metal
and reacts vigorously with water to generate hydrogen gas. The word
sodium
is derived from "sodanum" (a Medieval Latin name for a headache remedy), and "natrium" (Latin for "soda") is the origin of the element's symbol. Humphry Davy isolated the element in 1807 via the electrolysis of caustic soda, NaOH. Currently, sodium metal is obtained from the electrolysis of a molten mixture of sodium chloride and
calcium chloride (in an electrochemical cell called the Downs cell). In nature it is never found in its elemental form, but sodium ...