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Sodium

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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

FormalPara Element Data

Atomic symbol: Na

Atomic number: 11

Atomic weight: 22.98977 u

Isotopes and abundances: 23Na 100 %

1 Atm melting point: 97.7 °C

1 Atm boiling point: 883 °C

Common valences: 1+

Ionic radii: 110 pm

Pauling electronegativity: 0.93

First ionization energy: 496 kJ.mol−1

Chondritic (CI) abundance: 4962 ppm

Silicate earth abundance: 2590 ppm

Crustal abundance: 2.3 %

Seawater abundance: 0.47 mol/kg

Core abundance: ~0

Properties

Sodium (Na) is an alkali metal belonging to the first column of the periodic table. Like the other alkali metals (Li, K, Rb, Cs, Fr), it is a highly reactive element that does not exist in a metallic form on Earth. It easily loses an electron and combines mostly with oxygen and halogens. Its electronic configuration is [Ne] 3s1 and its ionic radius is 1.1 Angstrom making Na+ one of the largest cations.

It is mainly found in silicates, chlorides, or as the free ion Na+in surface fluids. It is particularly enriched in seawater as a result of its...

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References

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Correspondence to Jérôme Gaillardet .

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Gaillardet, J. (2016). Sodium. In: White, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_240-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_240-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39193-9

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Sodium
    Published:
    01 September 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_240-2

  2. Original

    Sodium
    Published:
    02 July 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_240-1