This element is sponsored by Harry Cross in honor of Ray and Eleanor Cross, B.S. in Chemistry, MTU class of 1935.
Sodium is a very reactive element that is never found free in nature.
Pure sodium is a soft, bright, silvery metal, that decomposes water, sometimes igniting spontaneously. Metallic sodium is vital in the manufacture of sodamide and esters, and in the preparation of organic compounds. Sodium metal may also be used to improve the structure of certain alloys, to descale metal, to purify molten metals, and as a heat transfer agent. Sodium compunds are also important to the paper, glass, soap, textile, petrolium, chemical, and metal industries.