Irene_Uses&PropertiesSodium


 * Return to Sodium**

**Uses and Porperties**
Properties Sodium in nature does not occur because is so reactive with water and air but you can see it in many compounds.Its melting point is pretty law, is at 97.5°C and its boiling point is at 883°C.Sodium is a soft,bright and white alkali metal that from the commercial point is te most important alkaline metal.It looks like alluminium but is more softer,it can be cut easily with a knife. It reacts easily and quickly with water and ice forming sodium hydroxide and hydrogen.It also reacts with air, it looses its silver colour and aquires an opaque grey colour for the formation of a sodium oxide coating.It doesn't react with nitrogen and it reacts hardly with carbon,but it reacts with hydrogen producing sodium hydride.It aslo forms the important sodium chloride.

picture of sodium**
 * [[image:sodium_imm_1.jpg width="208" height="159"]]

Uses Sodium is used in many compounds and it has a lot of importance and utility in our life.It has commercial uses as much as industril uses.It is used for soaps,fertilizers,detergents, to relieve stomach acid, medicines and fire extinguishers.Photographers use a sodium compound as a fixing agent and combined to other metals sodium produces chemicals but sodium in its pure form is used to make syntetic rubber.Sodium flouride is used as an antibiotic,mice poison and in ceramic and another compound is used to make vapor lamps.Sodium chloride is known as salt and we used it to preserve food and in it and sodium is aslo necessary to many of our body function.Sodium is too similar to Potassium but in the industries sodium is used more baceuse a french chemist, Nicholas Leblanc, in 1789 found that is less expensive.