Sodium (Understanding the Elements of the Periodic Table) [Hardcover]

Michelle Thomas (Author)

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Rosen Publishing Group (January 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1404201602
• ISBN-13: 978-1404201606
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,464,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 48-page introduction to the 6th element, November 9, 2008

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sodium (Understanding the Elements of the Periodic Table) (Hardcover)

I've read several books in the "Understanding the Elements of the Periodic Table" series for young adults (YA), and this volume on the sixth most abundant element is an interesting guide to such disparate processes as mummy preservation, fireworks displays, and the human nervous and circulatory systems.

Sodium plays a vital role in all of the above, even though to look at it, the sixth element is just another one of the myriad silvery metals in the periodic table. Don a pair of goggles and very carefully drop a tiny piece of sodium into a beaker of water to reveal its distinctive nature. It reacts vigorously with water to release hydrogen as a gas, which sometimes ignites.

In fact, why don't you watch from a safe distance as your science teacher performs this experiment!

As with all the books in this series, the discovery of this element and its place in the period table is discussed, as well as its most common uses, e.g. in table salt (NaCl) and the manufacture of soap.

I am enjoying these 48-page books on the elements, as each book `personalizes' a particular element for me and makes it easier to remember

For those readers who would like to further explore the periodic table, I can enthusiastically recommend "Nature's Building Blocks" (2003) by John Emsley and "The Periodic Table" (2007) by Eric R. Scerri. For more general reading on the periodic table and how it sparked the interest of young scientists, two outstanding autobiographies are available: "Uncle Tungsten" (2001) by Oliver Sacks and "The Periodic Table" (1975) by Primo Levi.