How to take care of sodium
By Luke Jordan, Taneesh Makkena, and Viliami Fox
1. Keep away from water.
Be sure to keep sodium away from water. The two do not interact well and react very violently in an explosion.
2. Keep under 97.5 Celsius
If you want your sodium to stay a solid be sure to keep it under 97.5 degrees (celsius). If sodium reaches this mark it will melt.
3. Be sure to keep sodium away from oxygen.
If sodium is exposed to oxygen it will lose its shininess and become a dull grey. At its dull grey it is not nearly as impressive and is incredibly hard to reverse.
4. Keep sodium away from halogens.
Be sure to keep sodium away from halogens if you want it to stay pure, as this is what sodium most commonly bonds with.
5. Keep sodium in a cool environment.
Sodium is a very good conductor and can transmit heat very easily. Make sure sodium is away from heat emitting sources.
6. Make sure sodium always has eleven electrons.
Make sure the sodium atoms you have always have eleven electrons, otherwise it would be in an ion and not pure sodium.
7. Be sure that your sodium has twelve neutrons.
Make sure that the atoms in your sodium has twelve neutrons, because otherwise it would be an isotope and be radioactive.
8. Make sure sodium is in an environment with gases it does not react with.
Sodium reacts with many gases, but some it doesn't react with are nitrogen, and it hardly reacts with carbon.
9. Keep sodium away from most metals.
Sodium in Earth's crust is often found with another element, commonly many elements combined. Sodium is very reactive, so the least amount of other elements it is exposed to the better.
Keep sodium away from acids.
Sodium is a base, and when acids and bases mix it is commonly violent. To keep both you and sodium safe be sure sodium is only around bases and non reactants.