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Sodium and Calcium – Comparison – Properties

This article contains comparison of key thermal and atomic properties of sodium and calcium, two comparable chemical elements from the periodic table. It also contains basic descriptions and applications of both elements. Sodium vs Calcium.

sodium and calcium - comparison

Compare sodium with another element

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Potassium - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Chlorine - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Aluminium - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Silicon - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Sulfur - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Compare calcium with another element

Hydrogen - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Lithium - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Oxygen - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Fluorine - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Sodium - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Magnesium - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Phosphorus - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Sulfur - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Chlorine - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

Potassium - Properties - Price - Applications - Production

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Sodium and Calcium – About Elements

Sodium

Sodium is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table, because it has a single electron in its outer shell that it readily donates, creating a positively charged atom—the Na+ cation.

Calcium

Calcium is an alkaline earth metal, it is a reactive pale yellow metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to its heavier homologues strontium and barium. It is the fifth most abundant element in Earth’s crust and the third most abundant metal, after iron and aluminium.

Sodium in Periodic Table

Calcium in Periodic Table

Source: www.luciteria.com

Sodium and Calcium – Applications

Sodium

Metallic sodium is used mainly for the production of sodium borohydride, sodium azide, indigo, and triphenylphosphine. A once-common use was the making of tetraethyllead and titanium metal; because of the move away from TEL and new titanium production methods. An electric current and sodium vapor combine to form a yellowish glow. This principle is used for the making of sodium vapor lamps. Sodium is occasionally used as a heat exchange medium in nuclear power plants. Liquid sodium is sealed into pipes surrounding the reactor core. Generated heat is absorbed by sodium and forced through the pipes in a heat exchanger which can be used to generate electricity.

Calcium

The largest use of metallic calcium is in steelmaking, due to its strong chemical affinity for oxygen and sulfur. Its oxides and sulfides, once formed, give liquid lime aluminate and sulfide inclusions in steel which float out. Calcium compounds are used as manufacture of insecticides, paints, blackboard chalk, textile and fireworks.

Sodium and Calcium – Comparison in Table

Element Sodium Calcium
Density 0.968 g/cm3 1.55 g/cm3
Ultimate Tensile Strength N/A 110 MPa
Yield Strength N/A N/A
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity 10 GPa 20 GPa
Mohs Scale 0.4 1.5
Brinell Hardness 0.69 MPa 170 – 400 MPa
Vickers Hardness N/A N/A
Melting Point 97.8 °C 842 °C
Boiling Point 883 °C 1484 °C
Thermal Conductivity 141 W/mK 200 W/mK
Thermal Expansion Coefficient 71 µm/mK 22.3 µm/mK
Specific Heat 1.23 J/g K 0.63 J/g K
Heat of Fusion 2.598 kJ/mol 8.54 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization 96.96 kJ/mol 153.3 kJ/mol