MSDS ( Material Safety Data Sheet )
Ok, well everybody here has at one point wanted to get their hands on pure sodium. Here's how to make it with household items...
Take table salt and heat it in a metal dish until it melts. Than run electricity through it. Don't breathe the gas. It's pure clorine and you will die.
Pure sodium explodes in water so have fun. It also burns through s**t. Really good for school, cars, or just about anything you can think of.
More sodium metal information:
Compared with the other alkali metals, sodium is generally more reactive than lithium and less so than potassium, in accordance with "periodic law": for example, their reaction in water, chlorine gas, etc.; the reactivity of their nitrates, chlorates, perchlorates, etc. An exception to the periodic law is regarding sodium's density. The density of the elements are expected to increase down the group. However, potassium is less dense than sodium.
Owing to its high reactivity, sodium is found in nature only as a compound and never as the free element. Sodium reacts exothermically with water: small pea-sized pieces will swim around the surface of the water until they are consumed by it, whereas large pieces will explode. While sodium metal reacts with water, you can observe that the sodium piece melts with the heat of the reaction to form a perfect sphere shape if the reacting sodium is small enough. The reaction with water produces very caustic sodium hydroxide and highly flammable hydrogen gas. In any case these are considered an extreme hazard and will cause severe skin and eye injury. When burned in air, sodium forms sodium peroxide Na2O2, or with limited oxygen, the oxide Na 2O (unlike lithium, the nitride is not formed). If burned in oxygen under pressure, sodium superoxide NaO2 will be produced.
When sodium or its compounds are introduced into a flame it will contribute a bright yellow.
In chemistry, most sodium compounds are considered soluble but nature provides examples of many insoluble sodium compounds such as the feldspars. There are other insoluble sodium salts such as sodium bismuthate NaBiO3, sodium octamolybdate Na2Mo8O25• 4H2O, sodium thioplatinate Na4Pt3S6, sodium uranate Na2UO4. Sodium meta-antimonate's 2NaSbO3•7H2O solubility is 0.3g/L as is the pyro form Na2H2Sb2O7• H2O of this salt. Sodium metaphosphate NaPO3 has a soluble and an insoluble form.[1]
Sodium ions are necessary for regulation of blood and body fluids, transmission of nerve impulses, heart activity, and certain metabolic functions. Interestingly, sodium is needed by animals, which maintain high concentrations in their blood and extracellular fluids, but the ion is not needed by plants. A completely plant-based diet, therefore, will be very low in sodium. This requires some herbivores to obtain their sodium from salt licks and other mineral sources. The animal need for sodium is probably the reason for the highly-conserved ability to taste the sodium ion as "salty." Receptors for the pure salty taste respond best to sodium, and otherwise only to a few other small monovalent cations (Li+, NH4+, and to some extent also K+). Calcium chloride also tastes somewhat salty, but also quite bitter.
The most common sodium salt, sodium chloride (table salt), used for seasoning and food preservation, has been an important commodity in human activities (the English word salary refers to salarium, the prerequisite given to Roman soldiers for the purpose of buying salt). The human requirement for sodium in the diet is less than 500 mg per day, which is typically less than a tenth as much as many diets "seasoned to taste." Most people consume far more sodium than is physiologically needed. For certain people with salt-sensitive blood pressure, this extra intake may cause a negative effect on health.
Sodium Metal: While sodium metal reacts with water, you can observe that the sodium piece melts with the heat of the reaction to form a perfect sphere shape if the reacting sodium is small enough. The reaction with water produces very caustic sodium hydroxide and highly flammable hydrogen gas.
Sodium in its metallic form can be used to refine some reactive metals, such as zirconium and potassium, from their compounds. This alkali metal as the Na+ ion is vital to animal life.
Zirconium: a chemical element in the modern periodic table that is assigned the symbol Zr and has the atomic number 40. A lustrous gray-white, strong transition metal that resembles titanium, zirconium is obtained chiefly from zircon and is very corrosion resistant. Zirconium is primarily used in nuclear reactors due to its resistance to corrosion and low neutron cross-section.
It is a grayish-white metal, lustrous and exceptionally corrosion resistant. Zirconium is lighter than steel and its hardness is similar to copper. When it is finely divided, the metal can spontaneously ignite in air, especially at high temperatures (it is much more difficult to ignite the solid metal). Zirconium zinc alloy becomes magnetic at temperatures below 35 K. Oxidation state of zirconium is usually +4, although +3 and +2 can also be obtained.
More Info Here
Potassium: a chemical element. It has the symbol K (Arabic: al qalja → Latin: kalium) and atomic number 19. The name "potassium" comes from the word "potash", as potassium was first isolated from potash. Potassium is a soft silvery-white metallic alkali metal that occurs naturally bound to other elements in seawater and many minerals. It oxidizes rapidly in air and is very reactive, especially towards water. In many respects, potassium and sodium are chemically similar, although organisms in general, and animal cells in particular, treat them very differently.
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EDIT: If you don't want to risk killing yourself making it the buy it off of United Nuclear.
Sodium Metal
chemical element: Na
( solid blocks/cubes )
Ultra pure quantities of the element Sodium (atomic number 11), ideal for element collectors of those conducting experiments/producing alloys with pure Sodium metal. Sodium is a very soft metal that can easily be cut with a knife. It reacts violently with water, liberating explosive Hydrogen gas and igniting it. It is a flammable metal and can cause severe burns if it comes in contact with the skin. This material should only be handled by those familiar with its properties.
Sodium is shipped in a poly bottle under Mineral Oil within a metal can. Number and size of the blocks
vary, but total weight is approximately 1 oz.
Sodium is a very lightweight metal (so lightweight, that it actually floats on water).
Caution: Use safety precautions (wear eye protection and gloves) when working with Sodium metal. Violently/explosively reacts with water and may ignite on contact with air. Causes severe burns on contact with body tissue. See MSDS link below.
Sodium metal, 1oz: $25.00
MSDS ( Material Safety Data Sheet )
You can buy this here:
http://www.unitednuclear.com/chem.htm
Use ctrl + f and type in sodium metal.
