Many metals are common in nature, not only in the composition of various rocks or minerals, but also in a free - native form. Such, for example, include gold, silver and copper. However, active metal elements, such as sodium, whose electronic graphic formula we will study, are not found as a simple substance. The reason is their high reactivity, leading to the rapid oxidation of the substance with atmospheric oxygen. That is why in the laboratory, metal is stored under a layer of kerosene or technical oil. The chemical activity of all alkaline metal elements can be explained by the structural features of their atoms. Consider the electron-graphical formula of sodium and find out how its characteristic affects the physical properties and characteristics of the interaction with other substances.
Sodium atom
The position of the element in the main subgroup of the first group of the periodic system affects the structure of its electrically neutral particle. This diagram illustrates the arrangement of electrons around the nucleus of an atom and determines the number of energy levels in it:
The number of protons, neutrons, electrons in a sodium atom will be 11, 12, 11, respectively. The proton number and number of electrons are determined by the ordinal number of the element, and the number of neutral nuclear particles will be equal to the difference between the nucleon number (atomic mass) and the proton number (serial number ) To record the distribution of negatively charged particles in an atom, one can use the following electronic formula: 1s 2 2s 2 2p 6 3s 1 .
The relationship between the structure of the atom and the properties of matter
The properties of sodium as an alkali metal can be explained by the fact that it belongs to s-elements, its valency is 1, and the oxidation state is +1. One unpaired electron on the third, last layer determines its reduction characteristics. In reactions with other atoms, sodium always gives its own negative particle to more electronegative elements. For example, being oxidized by atmospheric oxygen, Na atoms become positively charged particles - cations that make up the molecule of the basic oxide Na 2 O. This reaction has the following form:
4Na + O 2 = 2Na 2 O.
Physical properties
The electron-graphical formula of sodium and its crystal lattice determine such element parameters as the state of aggregation, melting and boiling points, and the ability to conduct heat and electric current. Sodium is light (density 0.97 g / cm 3 ) and a very soft silver metal. The presence in the crystal lattice of freely moving electrons leads to high thermal and electrical conductivity. In nature, it is found in such minerals as sodium chloride NaCl and sylvinite NaCl × KCl. Sodium is very common not only in inanimate nature, for example, as a part of deposits of rock salt or sea water of the seas and oceans. It, along with chlorine, sulfur, calcium, phosphorus and other elements, is among the ten most important organogenic chemical elements that form living biological systems.
Chemical Features
It is clearly seen in the electron-graphical formula of sodium that the only s-electron rotating on the last, third energy layer of the Na atom is weakly bound to a positively charged nucleus. It easily leaves the atom, therefore, sodium in reactions with oxygen, water, hydrogen and nitrogen behaves as a strong reducing agent. Here are examples of reaction equations typical of alkali metals:
2Na + H 2 = 2NaH;
6Na + N 2 = 2Na 3 N;
2Na + 2H 2 O = 2NaOH + H 2.
The reaction with water ends with the formation of chemically aggressive compounds - alkalis. Sodium hydroxide, also called sodium hydroxide, exhibits the properties of active bases and, in the solid state, has been used as a gas desiccant. Sodium metal in industry is obtained by electrolysis of molten salt - sodium chloride or the corresponding hydroxide, and a layer of sodium metal is formed on the cathode.
In our article, we examined the electron-graphical formula of sodium, and also studied its properties and production in industry.