sodium

Also known as element 11, 11Na

Sodium is a chemical element; it has symbol Na (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable isotope is 23Na. The free metal does not occur in nature and must be prepared from compounds. Sodium is the sixth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and exists in numerous minerals such as feldspars, sodalite, and halite (NaCl). Many salts of sodium are highly water-soluble: sodium ions have been leached by the action of water from the Earth's minerals over

OverviewAI-generated

Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. Its standard molar entropy is 51.2, and it has a mass of 22.98976928. The element exhibits oxidation states of -1, 1, and 0. Its electron configuration is described as 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s¹ or [Ne] 3s¹.

The substance has an electronegativity of 1 and an ionization energy of 495.8. Its radius is 227, while its ionic radius is 1.39. Sodium melts at 97.78 and boils at 882.94. It was discovered in 1807. The canonical SMILES representation is [Na], and the Unicode character for the element is 鈉.

Synthesized by Vinony from 30 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, PubChem, PubMed, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Chemical data

Formula: Na
Molecular weight: 22.9897693 g/mol
IUPAC name: sodium
SMILES: [Na]
InChIKey: KEAYESYHFKHZAL-UHFFFAOYSA-N
Polar surface area: 0 Å²
H-bond donors: 0
H-bond acceptors: 0
Formal charge: 0

via PubChem

Research

649,493 papers

Sodium's role and therapeutic targeting in cancer.ReviewTrends in pharmacological sciences · 2026An J, Zhang L, Duan Y et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.tips.2025.10.015
Sodium management in dialysis by conductivity.ReviewAdvances in renal replacement therapy · 1999Bosetto A, Bene B, Petitclerc TDOI: 10.1016/s1073-4449(99)70020-8
Sodium.Lancet (London, England) · 1951ROSENHEIM MLDOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(51)93068-1
The seventh macronutrient: how sodium shortfall ramifies through populations, food webs and ecosystems.ReviewEcology letters · 2020Kaspari MDOI: 10.1111/ele.13517
Two barriers for sodium in vascular endothelium?ReviewAnnals of medicine · 2012Oberleithner HDOI: 10.3109/07853890.2011.653397
Optimization of dialysate sodium in sodium profiling haemodialysis.ReviewNephrology (Carlton, Vic.) · 2003Kim MJ, Song Jh, Kim Ga et al.DOI: 10.1046/j.1440-1797.8.s.2.x
Peroperative sodium balance.Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica · 1971Deding A, Jorgensen S, Nielsen FHDOI: 10.1111/j.1399-6576.1971.tb00636.x
Sodium gradient: a tool to individualize dialysate sodium prescription in chronic hemodialysis patients?ReviewBlood purification · 2011Penne EL, Sergeyeva ODOI: 10.1159/000321851

via PubMed

~27 min read

Encyclopedic overview

28 sections

Contents

Characteristics
Physical
Isotopes
Chemistry
Metallic sodium
Salts and oxides
Aqueous solutions
Electrides and sodides
Organosodium compounds
Intermetallic compounds
History
Occurrence
Astronomical observations
Commercial production
Uses
Heat transfer
Biological role
Biological role in humans
Diet
High sodium consumption
High blood pressure
Physiology
Biological role in plants
Safety and precautions
See also
References
Bibliography
External links

Sodium was first isolated by Humphry Davy in 1807 by the electrolysis of sodium hydroxide. Among many other useful sodium compounds, sodium hydroxide (lye) is used in soap manufacture, and sodium chloride (edible salt) is a de-icing agent and a nutrient for animals including humans.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “sodium” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.