Sodium and Sulfur - Comparison - Properties

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

sodium and sulfur - comparison

Compare sodium with another element

Compare sulfur with another element

Sodium and Sulfur – 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.

Sulfur

Sulfur is abundant, multivalent, and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow crystalline solid at room temperature. Chemically, sulfur reacts with all elements except for gold, platinum, iridium, tellurium, and the noble gases.

Sodium in Periodic Table

Sulfur in Periodic Table

Source: www.luciteria.com

Sodium and Sulfur – 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.

Sulfur

The greatest commercial use of the element is the production of sulfuric acid for sulfate and phosphate fertilizers, and other chemical processes. Sulfur is increasingly used as a component of fertilizers. The most important form of sulfur for fertilizer is the mineral calcium sulfate. The element sulfur is used in matches, insecticides, and fungicides. Many sulfur compounds are odoriferous, and the smells of odorized natural gas, skunk scent, grapefruit, and garlic are due to organosulfur compounds.

Sodium and Sulfur – Comparison in Table

Element	Sodium	Sulfur
Density	0.968 g/cm3	1.96 g/cm3
Ultimate Tensile Strength	N/A	N/A
Yield Strength	N/A	N/A
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity	10 GPa	N/A
Mohs Scale	0.4	2
Brinell Hardness	0.69 MPa	N/A
Vickers Hardness	N/A	N/A
Melting Point	97.8 °C	112.8 °C
Boiling Point	883 °C	444.7 °C
Thermal Conductivity	141 W/mK	0.269 W/mK
Thermal Expansion Coefficient	71 µm/mK	N/A
Specific Heat	1.23 J/g K	0.71 J/g K
Heat of Fusion	2.598 kJ/mol	1.7175 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization	96.96 kJ/mol	45 kJ/mol