Sodium Atomic number 11 Salty stuff Commentary

London—Humphry Davy elements

Sodium

• Since antiquity, little distinction
• was made between potash and soda.
• Alchemists called them both natron.
• In 1758, Andreas Sigismund Marggraf
• said they were different
• because they burned with different colors.
• In 1807 Humphry Davy produced sodium metal
• by electrolysis from sodium hydroxide,
• establishing sodium and potassium
• as separate elements.

Atomic number 11

• Common salt, table salt
• is sodium chloride.
• Commonly known as “salt”
• —a seasoning and a preservative.
• Sodium is an essential nutrient,
• regulating blood volume and pressure.

Salty stuff

• Salt an essential
• Salt in the sea
• Salt of the earth
• Salt and the savory
• Salt for offspring
• Salt for the salacious
• Salt in rituals
• Salt rub
• Salt cellar
• Salt as currency
• Salted cod, salted herring
• Saltine crackers
• Salt crystals, salt licks
• Salt mounds
• Salt tectonics
• Salt mines, salt ponds
• Salt caravans, salt roads
• Salt and civilization
• Rock salt, table salt
• Old salt
• Pillar of salt
• Pinch of salt