sodium

• Description
• General information
• Physical data
• Radii
• Electronegativities
• Solid state structure
• Temperatures
• Enthalpies
• Ionization Enthalpies
• Isotopes
• Further information

Description

Soap is generally a sodium salt of fatty acids. The importance of common salt to animal nutrition has been recognized since prehistoric times. The most common compound is sodium chloride, (table salt).

Sodium is a Group 1 element (or IA in older labelling styles). Group 1 elements are often referred to as the "alkali metals". The chemistry of sodium is dominated by the +1 ion Na⁺.

General information

Discoveror: Sir Humphrey Davy
Date discovered: 1807
Discovered at: England
Meaning of name: From the English word "soda" (the origin of the symbol Na comes from the Latin word "natrium")

Physical data

Standard state: solid at 298 K
Colour: silvery white/
Density of solid at ambient temperature/kg m^-3: 968
Molar volume/cm³: 23.78

Radii /pm

Atomic: 190
Covalent (single bond):
Pauling radius for the ion [Na]^-: no data

Valence shell orbital radius maxima (R_max)

orbital	s	p	d	f
radius	179.4	no data	no data	no data

Electronegativities

Both values are quoted on the Pauling scale.

Pauling: 0.93
Allred Rochow: 1.01

Crystal Structure

structure: bcc (body-centred cubic)

The following CrystalMaker image represents the solid state structure. For most elements, the most stable allotrope is illustrated. Try WebElements version 2 for interactive virtual reality and CHIME images.

Temperatures (/K)

melting point: 370.87
boiling point: 1156

Enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

fusion: 2.60
vaporization: 97.7

single bond enthalpies:

Na-F	Na-Cl	Na-Br	Na-I	Na-Na
477	408	363	304	73.60

Ionization enthalpies /kJ mol^-1

Number	Enthalpy
1st	495.8
2nd	4562.4
3rd	6912
4th	9544
5th	13353
6th	16610
7th	20115
8th	25490

Isotopes

This section gives some data for naturally occurring isotopes.

Nominal mass	Accurate mass	% natural abundance
23Na	22.9897677 (10)	100

Further Information

• Additional information about WebElements 1.2.2
• This is a licensed copy (here is the full list) of WebElements 1.2.2 and contains a subset of the material contained within the main version of WebElements (version 2)
• For further information please try WebElements version 2
• Sheffield Chemdex: perhaps the largest internet chemistry directory
• Sheffield Chemputer: interactive chemistry calculators on the WWW