Definition of Sodium

1. Noun. A silvery soft waxy metallic element of the alkali metal group; occurs abundantly in natural compounds (especially in salt water); burns with a yellow flame and reacts violently in water; occurs in sea water and in the mineral halite (rock salt).

Exact synonyms: Atomic Number 11, Na
Generic synonyms: Metal, Metallic Element
Substance meronyms: Halite, Rock Salt, Brine, Saltwater, Seawater

Definition of Sodium

1. n. A common metallic element of the alkali group, in nature always occuring combined, as in common salt, in albite, etc. It is isolated as a soft, waxy, white, unstable metal, so readily oxidized that it combines violently with water, and to be preserved must be kept under petroleum or some similar liquid. Sodium is used combined in many salts, in the free state as a reducer, and as a means of obtaining other metals (as magnesium and aluminium) is an important commercial product. Symbol Na (Natrium). Atomic weight 23. Specific gravity 0.97.

Definition of Sodium

1. Noun. A soft, waxy, silvery reactive metal that is never found unbound in nature, and a chemical element (''symbol'' Na) with an atomic number of 11 and atomic weight of 22.98977. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Sodium

1. a metallic element [n -S] : SODIC [adj]

Medical Definition of Sodium

1. , element> Sodium is a soft, silvery, highly reactive alkali metal which has an atomic number of 11 and an atomic weight of 22.990. It is most commonly found in the form of salt, sodium chloride (NaCl). It was first identified as an element by the English scientist Sir Humphrey Davy in 1807. Sodium chloride is a critical nutrient in humans (it plays an important role in nerve function), but too much of it can cause health problems such as aggravating high blood pressure. Pure metallic sodium is a fire hazard, and it can explode if it comes into contact with water. Other commonly used sodium compounds include soda ash (sodium carbonate, Na2CO3), baking soda (sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO3) and caustic soda (sodium hydroxide, NaOH). Abbreviation: Na (09 Oct 1997)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Sodium

sodding
sodding(a)
sodding hell
soddy
soddyite
sodger
sodgers
sodian
sodic
sodicanthophyllite
sodicgedrite
sodicities
sodicity
sodiferous
sodio-
sodium (current term)
sodium-23
sodium-24
sodium-calcium exchanger
sodium-cooled
sodium-hydrogen antiporter
sodium-responsive periodic paralysis
sodium-translocating NADH-quinone reductase
sodium-vapor lamp
sodium-vapour lamp
sodium ATPase
sodium acetate

Literary usage of Sodium

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1920)
"A considerable quantity of metallic sodium is now prepared by the direct ... sodium possesses powerful reducing properties, and the metal is used in the ..."

2. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1918)
"Among such bodies may be named sodium peroxide, potassium permanganate, ... As examples we have mixtures of sodium thiosulphate with sodium peroxide; ..."

3. Standard Methods of Chemical Analysis: A Manual of Analytical Methods and by Wilfred Welday Scott (1922)
"In the presence of sodium, the flame assumes an intense yellow color, which is usually sufficient to identify the element. The results may be confirmed by ..."

4. Diet in Health and Disease by Julius Friedenwald, John Ruhräh (1907)
"for this loss of common salt: either the potassium combines with the sodium salts in the blood, thus forming abnormal combinations which are useless to the ..."

5. Analytical Chemistry by Frederick Pearson Treadwell (1910)
"We will, therefore, first consider the determination of sodium itself and ... sodium, like potassium, is determined in the form of its chloride and of its ..."

6. Journal of the American Chemical Society by American Chemical Society (1879)
"The mixing chamber in which the sodium in liquid ammonia solutions were prepared consisted of a vacuum-jacketed, 100-ml graduated cylinder containing three ..."

7. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society by Cambridge Philosophical Society (1906)
"The method adopted was to attach a bulb of hardest Jena glass to a mercury pump, having first placed some metallic sodium in the stem of the bulb; ..."

8. Standard Methods of Chemical Analysis: A Manual of Analytical Methods and by Wilfred Welday Scott (1922)
"sodium carbonate is the best of the alkali standards. This salt may be prepared in exceedingly pure form. It is generally used as the basic material for the ..."

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