Na
Sodium · Natrium
Sodium is a highly reactive alkali metal widely used in industrial chemical synthesis, metallurgy, and emerging battery technologies.
About Sodium
Sodium is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal that exhibits distinct metallic character. As a highly reactive element, it plays a fundamental role in various chemical processes and serves as a critical component in advanced battery technologies and heat transfer systems.
This material is thermodynamically stable, occupying a position on the convex hull that underscores its prevalence in chemical systems. Its extensive structural data across multiple databases highlights its importance as a foundational element in materials science and industrial chemistry.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Sodium, aggregated across 6 databases.
Band GapEnergy needed to move an electron from the valence band to the conduction band. Lower or zero values tend to behave more metallic; larger gaps are more insulating or semiconducting.
Energy Above HullThermodynamic distance from the most stable set of competing phases. 0 eV/atom is on the convex hull; small positive values may still be experimentally accessible.
StabilityA plain-language summary of the best reported energy-above-hull result. It reflects whether the lowest-energy structure is on, near, or far from the stability hull.
StructuresCount of reported calculated crystal structures for this formula, including alternate polymorphs, source databases, and observed space groups.
Cross-Source DFT Agreement
How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of Na. Tight agreement means computed properties can be trusted without re-running calculations.
Agreement ScoreA normalized confidence score summarizing how closely independent DFT databases agree. Higher scores mean tighter cross-source agreement.
Hull SpreadDifference between the highest and lowest energy-above-hull values reported by comparable sources. Smaller spread means less thermodynamic disagreement.
Sources ComparedNumber and names of computational sources with comparable entries for this formula.
Space Group ConsensusWhether independent sources predict the same crystal symmetry for the lowest-energy structure.
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for Na, ranked by energy above hull.
| Space GroupSymmetry classification of the crystal arrangement. The number is the international space-group index. | Crystal SystemBroad lattice family, such as cubic, tetragonal, monoclinic, or triclinic, derived from unit-cell symmetry. | Band Gap (eV)Electronic gap calculated for this specific reported structure, measured in electronvolts. | E above hull (eV/atom)Thermodynamic distance from the convex hull for this structure, normalized per atom. Lower is generally more stable. | E/atom (eV)Computed total energy normalized per atom. Use energy above hull, not this value alone, when comparing stability. | Density (g/cm³)Mass per relaxed crystal volume, reported in grams per cubic centimeter. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pm-3m (No. 221) | cubic | 0.63 | 0.0000 | 1.051 | — |
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.001 | — |
| P63/mmc (No. 194) | hexagonal | 0.00 | 0.0000 | -3.564 | 1.03 |
| P63/mmc (No. 194) | hexagonal | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.001 | — |
| I-43d (No. 220) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.001 | — |
| Pnma (No. 62) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.036 | — |
| Im-3m (No. 229) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.002 | — |
| I-43m (No. 217) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | -0.010 | — |
| Pm-3n (No. 223) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | -0.008 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.000 | — |
| Im-3m (No. 229) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.002 | — |
| P63/mmc (No. 194) | hexagonal | 0.00 | 0.0000 | 0.000 | — |
Applications
Where Sodium is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Sodium, answered from cross-validated data.
What is Na?
Sodium is a highly reactive alkali metal widely used in industrial chemical synthesis, metallurgy, and emerging battery technologies.
What is Na used for?
What is the band gap of Na?
Is Na a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is Na thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of Na?
How many polymorphs of Na are known?
What elements does Na contain?
Where does the data for Na come from?
How It Compares
As a pure elemental metal, sodium serves as a primary reference point for alkali metal chemistry, defining the baseline behavior for reactivity and electronic conduction within the periodic table.
Data sources & attribution
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (jarvis.nist.gov), NIST. Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020). (LicenseRef-US-Gov-PD)
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project (materialsproject.org). Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013). (CC-BY-4.0)
- oqmd — Data from the OQMD (oqmd.org). Cite: Saal et al., JOM 65, 1501 (2013); Kirklin et al., npj Comp. Mater. 1, 15010 (2015). (CC-BY-4.0)
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