History+of+Sodium

History of Sodium

Discovered by: Sir Humphrey Davy

Discovered at: England

Discovered when: 1807

Origin of name:	 From the English word soda (the origin of the symbol Na comes from the Latin word natrium)

Sodium was first isolated in 1807 by Sir Humphry Davy, who made it by the electrolysis of very dry molten sodium hydroxide, NaOH. Sodium collected at the cathode. Davy isolated potassium by a similar procedure, also in 1807. Shortly after, Thenard and Gay-Lussac isolated sodium by reducing sodium hydroxide with iron metal at high temperatures.