Uses


 * **Soap is generally a sodium salt of fatty acids. **
 * **The importance of common salt to animal nutrition has been recognized since prehistoric times. **
 * **The most common compound is sodium chloride, (table salt). **




 * **sodium would not normally be made in the laboratory as it is so readily available commercially. **
 * **All syntheses require an electrolytic step as it is so difficult to add an electron to the poorly electronegative sodium ion Na+. **
 * **Sodium is present as salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) in huge quantities in underground deposits (salt mines) and seawater and other natural waters. It is easily recovered as a solid by drying. **
 * **Sodium chloride has a high melting point (> 800°C) meaning that it sould be expensive to melt it in order to carry out the electrolysis. **


 * **Sodium is present in fair abundance in the sun and stars. **
 * **The D lines of sodium are among the most prominent in the solar spectrum. **
 * **Sodium is the fourth most abundant element on earth, comprising about 2.6% of the earth's crust **
 * **it is the most abundant of the alkali group of metals. **


 * **Metallic sodium is vital in the manufacture of esters and in the preparation of organic compounds. **
 * **The metal may be used to improve the structure of certain alloys, descale metal, and purify molten metals. **
 * **An alloy of sodium with potassium, NaK, is an important heat transfer agent. **


 * **Sodium compounds are important to the paper, glass, soap, textile, petroleum, chemical, and metal industries. **