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Sodium metal Autobiography

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Like most elements on the periodic table, sodium has two distinct personalities. On the

one hand, it is a vital nutrient for most living organisms, but on the other hand, its reactivity may

cause havoc if combined with substances that you shouldn't. As a result, sodium is never found

in nature as a free element but only in compounds. Even yet, it is abundant—by weight, it makes

up around 2.6% of the Earth's crust. Sodium chloride in solution (or table salt), in solid form as

halite, and as a charge-balancing cation in zeolites are some of its most prevalent compounds.

The history of man with sodium is believed to go back to the era of the Pharaohs in

Ancient Egypt, with the first recorded reference of a sodium compound in the form of

hieroglyphics, aside from the fact that it is a necessary nutrient(Subbarao et al., 203). It is

challenging to convey a pictograph using words, but try to picture a squiggly line over a hollow

eye form, over a semicircle, and with an image of a vulture flying to the left next to them all.

This pictograph, whose name is the origin of the term natron, was used to represent washing

soda, or sodium carbonate decahydrate, as we would know it today. Its meaning was divine or

pure. Due to its capacity to absorb water and manage pH, sodium carbonate was utilized in soap

production and the mummification process.

However, sodium carbonate was also employed as a headache remedy in medieval

Europe, where it acquired the term sodanum from the Arabic word suda, which means headache

(Banks, 1990). When Sir Humphrey Davy initially separated the element by running an electric

current through NaOH (caustic soda) in 1807, he was inspired by this terminology to use the

name sodium. This process is today referred to as electrolysis.

Chemistry teachers confuse kids with chemical symbols. Unlike the abbreviations; H, C,

O, and N, abbreviating sodium to Na sounds illogical. The truncated form comes from the term

natrium. Silvery white sodium in metallic form violently oxidizes when exposed to air and
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produces hydrogen gas that can burst into flame when exposed to water. It is a reactive alkali

metal. Its D-line emission flame test is a vivid orange, like the other alkali metals. Streetlights

that use sodium to create a yellowish light are found in all urban areas. Kirchoff and Bunsen of

Bunsen Burner fame discovered this phenomenon in 1860.

Sodium cools nuclear reactors since it doesn't boil at high temperatures like water does.

Most nations ban sulfur removal from gasoline and diesel using sodium hydroxide due to the

hazardous byproducts. Biodiesel and drain cleaners use sodium hydroxide. As an ion, sodium is

crucial. The average person needs two grams of sodium daily, mostly from salt. Sodium ions

create brain cells firing electrical gradients. Sodium and its bigger sibling, potassium, are

involved in this process by diffusing across cell membranes (Forrest, 2014). Sodium enters and is

pushed out, while potassium goes in the opposite direction.

I'll conclude with a story on sodium's dual nature. One man acquired 3 ½ pounds of

sodium metal online and spent several hours reacting it with water in different sizes and shapes

while his companions watched from a safe distance. The party was successful, but he doesn't

recommend having one. The host checked the sodium detonation site the next day and found

swarms of yellow butterflies. He discovered these butterflies had an unusual habit after some

research. Males slowly acquire sodium and ritually offer it to their partners. That's sodium's two

sides. Its furious reaction contrasted with the butterflies' love.

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References

Banks, A. (1990). Sodium. Journal of Chemical Education, 67(12), 1046.

Forrest, M. D. (2014). The sodium-potassium pump is an information processing element in

brain computation. Frontiers in physiology, 5, 472.

Subbarao, G. V., Ito, O., Berry, W. L., & Wheeler, R. M. (2003). Sodium—a functional plant

nutrient. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences, 22(5), 391-416.