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.
Metallic sodium is used mainly for the production of sodium borohydride, sodium azide, indigo, and triphenylphosphine. 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.
Protons and Neutrons in Sodium
Sodiumis a chemical element with atomic number11 which means there are 11 protons in its nucleus. Total number of protons in the nucleus is called theatomic numberof the atom and is given thesymbol Z. The total electrical charge of the nucleus is therefore +Ze, where e (elementary charge) equals to1,602 x 10-19coulombs.
The total number ofneutronsin the nucleus of an atom is called theneutronnumberof the atom and is given thesymbol N. Neutronnumber plusatomic numberequals atomic mass number:N+Z=A. The difference between the neutron number and the atomic number is known as theneutron excess: D = N – Z = A – 2Z.
For stable elements, there is usually a variety of stable isotopes. Isotopes are nuclides that have the same atomic number and are therefore the same element, but differ in the number of neutrons. Mass numbers of typical isotopes of Sodiumare23.
Main Isotopes of Sodium
Its only stableisotopeis23Na. Two radioactive, cosmogenic isotopes are the byproduct of cosmic ray spallation: 22Na has a half-life of 2.6 years and 24Na, a half-life of 15 hours; all other isotopes have a half-life of less than one minute.
Sodium-23 is composed of 11 protons, 12 neutrons, and 11 electrons. Acute neutron radiation exposure (e.g., from a nuclear criticality accident) converts some of the stable 23Na in human blood plasma to 24
Na. By measuring the concentration of this isotope, the neutron radiation dosage to the victim can be computed.
Sodium-22 is composed of 11 protons, 11 neutrons, and 11 electrons. odium-22 is a radioactive isotope of sodium, undergoing positron emission to 22Ne with a half-life of 2.605 years. It is also commonly used as a positron source in positron annihilation spectroscopy.
Sodium-24 is composed of 11 protons, 12 neutrons, and 11 electrons. Sodium-24 is one of the most important isotopes. It is radioactive and created from common sodium-23 by neutron bombardment. Therefore its activity accounts for most of the reactor coolants activity when reactor is at full power.
Stable Isotopes
| Isotope | Abundance | Neutron Number |
| 23Na | 100% | 12 |
Typical Unstable Isotopes
| Isotope | Half-life | Decay Mode | Product |
| 22Na | 2.602y | positron decay | 22Ne |
| 24Na | 14.96h | beta decay | 24Mg |
Electrons and Electron Configuration
The number of electrons in an electrically-neutral atom is the same as the number of protons in the nucleus. Therefore, the number of electrons in neutral atom of Sodium is 11. Each electron is influenced by the electric fields produced by the positive nuclear charge and the other (Z – 1) negative electrons in the atom.
Since the number of electrons and their arrangement are responsible for the chemical behavior of atoms, theatomic numberidentifies the various chemical elements. The configuration of these electrons follows from the principles of quantum mechanics. The number of electrons in each element’s electron shells, particularly the outermost valence shell, is the primary factor in determining its chemical bonding behavior. In the periodic table, the elements are listed in order of increasing atomic number Z.
Electron configuration ofSodiumis[Ne] 3s1.
Possible oxidation states are-1; +1.
Sodium atoms have 11 electrons, one more than the stable configuration of the noble gas neon. Sodium usually forms ionic compounds involving the Na+ cation. Sodium is ordinarily quite reactive with air, and the reactivity is a function of the relative humidity, or water-vapour content of the air. The corrosion of solid sodium by oxygen also is accelerated by the presence of small amounts of impurities in the sodium. In ordinary air, sodium metal reacts to form a sodium hydroxide film, which can rapidly absorb carbon dioxide from the air, forming sodium bicarbonate.
Sodium metal can be easily cut with a knife and is a good conductor of electricity and heat because it has only one electron in its valence shell, resulting in weak metallic bonding and free electrons, which carry energy.
Most Common Compound of Sodium
Salt is mostly sodium chloride, the ionic compound with the formula NaCl, representing equal proportions of sodium and chlorine. Sea salt and freshly mined salt (much of which is sea salt from prehistoric seas) also contain small amounts of trace elements (which in these small amounts are generally good for plant and animal health.
About Protons
A protonis one of thesubatomic particlesthat make up matter. In the universe, protons are abundant, making upabout halfof all visible matter. It hasa positive electric charge (+1e)and a rest mass equal to 1.67262 × 10−27kg (938.272 MeV/c2)— marginally lighter than that of the neutron but nearly 1836 times greater than that of the electron. The proton has a mean square radius of about 0.87 × 10−15m, or 0.87 fm, and it is a spin – ½ fermion.
The protonsexist in the nuclei of typical atoms, along with their neutral counterparts, the neutrons. Neutrons and protons, commonly callednucleons, are bound together in the atomic nucleus, where they account for 99.9 percent of the atom’s mass. Research in high-energy particle physics in the 20th century revealed that neither the neutron nor the protonis notthe smallest building block of matter.
About Neutrons
A neutronis one of thesubatomic particlesthat make up matter. In the universe, neutrons are abundant, making upmore than halfof all visible matter. It hasno electric chargeand a rest mass equal to 1.67493 × 10−27 kg—marginally greater than that of the proton but nearly 1839 times greater than that of the electron. The neutron has a mean square radius of about 0.8×10−15 m, or 0.8 fm, and it is a spin-½ fermion.
Atomic nuclei consist of protons and neutrons, which attract each other throughthe nuclear force, while protons repel each other viathe electric forcedue to their positive charge. These two forces compete, leading to various stability of nuclei. There are only certain combinations of neutrons and protons, which formsstable nuclei.
Neutrons stabilize the nucleus, because they attract each other and protons , which helps offset the electrical repulsion between protons. As a result, as the number of protons increases,an increasing ratio of neutrons to protons is neededto form a stable nucleus. If there are too many or too few neutrons for a given number of protons, the resulting nucleus is not stable and it undergoesradioactive decay.Unstable isotopesdecay through various radioactive decay pathways, most commonly alpha decay, beta decay, or electron capture. Many other rare types of decay, such as spontaneous fission or neutron emission are known. It should be noted that all of these decay pathways may be accompanied bythe subsequent emission ofgamma radiation. Pure alpha or beta decays are very rare.
About Electrons and Electron Configuration
The periodic table is a tabular display of the chemical elements organized on the basis of their atomic numbers, electron configurations, and chemical properties. The electron configuration is the distribution of electrons of an atom or molecule (or other physical structure) in atomic or molecular orbitals. Knowledge of theelectron configurationof different atoms is useful in understanding the structure of the periodic table of elements.
Every solid, liquid, gas, and plasma is composed of neutral or ionized atoms. Thechemical properties of the atomare determined by the number of protons, in fact, by number andarrangement of electrons. Theconfiguration of these electronsfollows from the principles of quantum mechanics. The number of electrons in each element’s electron shells, particularly the outermost valence shell, is the primary factor in determining its chemical bonding behavior. In the periodic table, the elements are listed in order of increasing atomic number Z.
It is thePauli exclusion principlethat requires the electrons in an atom to occupy different energy levels instead of them all condensing in the ground state. The ordering of the electrons in the ground state of multielectron atoms, starts with the lowest energy state (ground state) and moves progressively from there up the energy scale until each of the atom’s electrons has been assigned a unique set of quantum numbers. This fact has key implications for the building up of the periodic table of elements.
The first two columns on the left side of the periodic table are where thessubshells are being occupied. Because of this, the first two rows of the periodic table are labeled thes block. Similarly, thep blockare the right-most six columns of the periodic table, thed blockis the middle 10 columns of the periodic table, while thef blockis the 14-column section that is normally depicted as detached from the main body of the periodic table. It could be part of the main body, but then the periodic table would be rather long and cumbersome.
For atoms with many electrons, this notation can become lengthy and so an abbreviated notation is used. The electron configuration can be visualized as the core electrons, equivalent to thenoble gasof the preceding period, and the valence electrons (e.g. [Xe] 6s2 for barium).
Oxidation States
Oxidation states are typically represented by integers which may be positive, zero, or negative. Most elements have more than one possible oxidation state. For example, carbon has nine possible integer oxidation states from −4 to +4.
The current IUPAC Gold Book definition of oxidation state is:
“Oxidation state of an atom is the charge of this atom after ionic approximation of its heteronuclear bonds…”
and the term oxidation number is nearly synonymous. An element that is not combined with any other different elements has an oxidation state of 0. Oxidation state 0 occurs for all elements – it is simply the element in its elemental form. An atom of an element in a compound will have a positive oxidation state if it has had electrons removed. Similarly, adding electrons results in a negative oxidation state. We have also distinguish between the possible and common oxidation states of every element. For example, silicon has nine possible integer oxidation states from −4 to +4, but only -4, 0 and +4 are common oxidation states.
Summary
| Element | Sodium |
| Number of protons | 11 |
| Number of neutrons (typical isotopes) | 23 |
| Number of electrons | 11 |
| Electron configuration | [Ne] 3s1 |
| Oxidation states | -1; +1 |
Source: www.luciteria.com
Properties of other elements
Periodic Table in 8K resolution
FAQs
How do you write the electron configuration for sodium? ›
Therefore the sodium electron configuration will be 1s22s22p63s1. The configuration notation provides an easy way for scientists to write and communicate how electrons are arranged around the nucleus of an atom. This makes it easier to understand and predict how atoms will interact to form chemical bonds.
What is the configuration number of sodium? ›Electronic configuration: The arrangement of electrons into the orbitals of an atom using some fundamental principle is called its electronic configuration. Electronic configuration of Sodium : Sodium is an alkali metal having atomic number 11. Therefore, the electronic configuration will be 1 s 2 2 s 2 2 p 6 3 s 1 .
What is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d3? ›Example: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d3 (This has a total of 23 electrons which equals the atomic number of V – Vanadium.)
What element is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d3? ›If you are referring to a neutral atom, then Vanadium (V) has that particular electron configuration. This means that the atom you're looking for has an atomic mass of 23, which corresponds to the atomic mass of Vanadium, a transition metal located in the fourth row, group 5 of the periodic table.