Sodium is not the same as salt, even though it’s sometimes listed as such. Salt is a mixture of sodium and chloride. While this combination is not particularly harmful, the two elements on their own are extremely dangerous.

Sodium’s symbol on the periodic table is Na, which comes from the Neo-Latin word natrium. The word “natrium” itself originates from the Greek word “nítron,” which referred to a kind of natural soda or salt.

The scientist Humphry Davy was the first person to isolate sodium, and he did it in the year 1807. The element sodium is never found pure in nature; it’s always present in compounds.

Sodium in its pure form is a soft metal — you can cut it easily with a knife.

Liquid sodium is sometimes used to cool nuclear reactors.

Sodium is often used in fireworks, where it produces a yellow color.

Low-pressure sodium lamps were popular in the 1930s.