Discovery date : 1807
Discovered by:Humphry Davy
Origin of the name: The name is derived from the English word 'soda'.
Allotropes :
~>SODIUM is a chemical element with symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. It is the sixth most abundant element in the Earth crust, and exists in numerous minerals such as feldspars, sodalite and rock salt (NaCl)
| FACT BOX | |||
| Group | 1 | Melting point | 97.794°C, 208.029°F, 370.944 K |
| Period | 3 | Boiling point | 882.940°C, 1621.292°F, 1156.090 K |
| Block | s | Density (g cm−3) | 0.97 |
| Atomic number | 11 | Relative atomic mass | 22.990 |
| State at 20°C | Solid | Key isotopes | 23 Na |
| Electron configuration | [Ne] 3s1 | CAS number | 7440-23-5 |
| ChemSpider ID | 4514534 | ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database | |
Salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) and soda (sodium carbonate, Na2CO3) had been known since prehistoric times, the former used as a flavouring and preservative, and the latter for glass manufacture. Salt came from seawater, while soda came from the Natron Valley in Egypt or from the ash of certain plants. Their composition was debated by early chemists and the solution finally came from the Royal Institution in London in October 1807 where Humphry Davy exposed caustic soda (sodium hydroxide, NaOH) to an electric current and obtained globules of sodium metal, just as he had previously done for potassium, although he needed to use a stronger current.
The following year, Louis-Josef Gay-Lussac and Louis-Jacques Thénard obtained sodium by heating to red heat a mixture of caustic soda and iron filings.