Sodium – Properties – Price – Applications – Production

About 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.

Summary

Element	Sodium
Atomic number	11
Element category	Alkali Metal
Phase at STP	Solid
Density	0.968 g/cm3
Ultimate Tensile Strength	N/A
Yield Strength	N/A
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity	10 GPa
Mohs Scale	0.4
Brinell Hardness	0.69 MPa
Vickers Hardness	N/A
Melting Point	97.8 °C
Boiling Point	883 °C
Thermal Conductivity	141 W/mK
Thermal Expansion Coefficient	71 µm/mK
Specific Heat	1.23 J/g K
Heat of Fusion	2.598 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization	96.96 kJ/mol
Electrical resistivity [nanoOhm meter]	47.7
Magnetic Susceptibility	+16e-6 cm^3/mol

Production and Price of Sodium

Raw materials prices change daily. They are primarily driven by supply, demand and energy prices. In 2019, prices of pure Sodium were at around 70 $/kg.

Employed only in rather specialized applications, only about 100,000 tonnes of metallic sodium are produced annually. Sodium is now produced commercially through the electrolysis of molten sodium chloride, based on a process patented in 1924. This is done in a Downs cell in which the NaCl is mixed with calcium chloride to lower the melting point below 700 °C.

Source: www.luciteria.com

Mechanical Properties of Sodium

Strength of Sodium

In mechanics of materials, the strength of a material is its ability to withstand an applied load without failure or plastic deformation. Strength of materials basically considers the relationship between the external loads applied to a material and the resulting deformation or change in material dimensions. In designing structures and machines, it is important to consider these factors, in order that the material selected will have adequate strength to resist applied loads or forces and retain its original shape. Strength of a material is its ability to withstand this applied load without failure or plastic deformation.

For tensile stress, the capacity of a material or structure to withstand loads tending to elongate is known as ultimate tensile strength (UTS). Yield strength or yield stress is the material property defined as the stress at which a material begins to deform plastically whereas yield point is the point where nonlinear (elastic + plastic) deformation begins.

See also: Strength of Materials

Ultimate Tensile Strength of Sodium

Ultimate tensile strength of Sodium is N/A.

Yield Strength of Sodium

Yield strength of Sodium is N/A.

Modulus of Elasticity of Sodium

The Young’s modulus of elasticity of Sodium is 10 GPa.

Hardness of Sodium

In materials science, hardness is the ability to withstand surface indentation (localized plastic deformation) and scratching. Brinell hardness test is one of indentation hardness tests, that has been developed for hardness testing. In Brinell tests, a hard, spherical indenter is forced under a specific load into the surface of the metal to be tested.

Brinell hardness of Sodium is approximately 0.69 MPa.

The Vickers hardness test method was developed by Robert L. Smith and George E. Sandland at Vickers Ltd as an alternative to the Brinell method to measure the hardness of materials. The Vickers hardness test method can be also used as a microhardness test method, which is mostly used for small parts, thin sections, or case depth work.

Vickers hardness of Sodium is approximately N/A.

Scratch hardness is the measure of how resistant a sample is to permanent plastic deformation due to friction from a sharp object. The most common scale for this qualitative test is Mohs scale, which is used in mineralogy. The Mohs scale of mineral hardness is based on the ability of one natural sample of mineral to scratch another mineral visibly.

Sodium is has a hardness of approximately 0.4.

See also: Hardness of Materials

Sodium – Crystal Structure

A possible crystal structure of Sodium is body-centered cubic structure.

In metals, and in many other solids, the atoms are arranged in regular arrays called crystals. A crystal lattice is a repeating pattern of mathematical points that extends throughout space. The forces of chemical bonding causes this repetition. It is this repeated pattern which control properties like strength, ductility, density, conductivity (property of conducting or transmitting heat, electricity, etc.), and shape. There are 14 general types of such patterns known as Bravais lattices.

See also: Crystal Structure of Materials

Crystal Structure of Sodium

Thermal Properties of Sodium

Sodium – Melting Point and Boiling Point

Melting point of Sodium is 97.8°C.

Boiling point of Sodium is 883°C.

Note that, these points are associated with the standard atmospheric pressure.

Sodium – Thermal Conductivity

Thermal conductivity of Sodium is 141 W/(m·K).

The heat transfer characteristics of a solid material are measured by a property called the thermal conductivity, k (or λ), measured in W/m.K. It is a measure of a substance’s ability to transfer heat through a material by conduction. Note that Fourier’s law applies for all matter, regardless of its state (solid, liquid, or gas), therefore, it is also defined for liquids and gases.

Coefficient of Thermal Expansion of Sodium

Linear thermal expansion coefficient of Sodium is 71 µm/(m·K)

Thermal expansion is generally the tendency of matter to change its dimensions in response to a change in temperature. It is usually expressed as a fractional change in length or volume per unit temperature change.

Sodium – Specific Heat, Latent Heat of Fusion, Latent Heat of Vaporization

Specific heat of Sodium is 1.23 J/g K.

Heat capacity is an extensive property of matter, meaning it is proportional to the size of the system. Heat capacity C has the unit of energy per degree or energy per kelvin. When expressing the same phenomenon as an intensive property, the heat capacity is divided by the amount of substance, mass, or volume, thus the quantity is independent of the size or extent of the sample.

Latent Heat of Fusion of Sodium is 2.598 kJ/mol.

Latent Heat of Vaporization of Sodium is 96.96 kJ/mol.

Latent heat is the amount of heat added to or removed from a substance to produce a change in phase. This energy breaks down the intermolecular attractive forces, and also must provide the energy necessary to expand the gas (the pΔV work). When latent heat is added, no temperature change occurs. The enthalpy of vaporization is a function of the pressure at which that transformation takes place.

Sodium – Electrical Resistivity – Magnetic Susceptibility

Electrical property refers to the response of a material to an applied electric field. One of the principal characteristics of materials is their ability (or lack of ability) to conduct electrical current. Indeed, materials are classified by this property, that is, they are divided into conductors, semiconductors, and nonconductors.

See also: Electrical Properties

Magnetic property refers to the response of a material to an applied magnetic field. The macroscopic magnetic properties of a material are a consequence of interactions between an external magnetic field and the magnetic dipole moments of the constituent atoms. Different materials react to the application of magnetic field differently.

See also: Magnetic Properties

Electrical Resistivity of Sodium

Electrical resistivity of Sodium is 47.7 nΩ⋅m.

Electrical conductivity and its converse, electrical resistivity, is a fundamental property of a material that quantifies how Sodium conducts the flow of electric current. Electrical conductivity or specific conductance is the reciprocal of electrical resistivity.

Magnetic Susceptibility of Sodium

Magnetic susceptibility of Sodium is +16e-6 cm^3/mol.

In electromagnetism, magnetic susceptibility is the measure of the magnetization of a substance. Magnetic susceptibility is a dimensionless proportionality factor that indicates the degree of magnetization of Sodium in response to an applied magnetic field.