Natron, niter, and soda (sodium carbonate) are…
October 1807 CE
Natron, niter, and soda (sodium carbonate) are recognized as identities as chemistry develops, although it will be many years before potassium carbonate is differentiated from the sodium salt.
Differences are recognized, but both substances are known as alkali.
Sodium is known as mineral alkali, or soda, and the potassium carbonate is known as vegetable alkali, or potash.
British electrochemist Humphry Davy, director of the laboratory of the Royal Institution, electrolytically isolates potassium from molten potash in October 1807.
He names the element for the French term, potasse, the name for the residue left in the evaporation of aqueous solutions derived from wood ashes.
The element's symbol, K, is for Latin kalium, the Latinized version of the Arabic word for alkali.
A few days later, he repeats the experiment using molten soda, and after increasing the voltage of his electrical source, produces another elemental metal, which he names sodium.
The term sodium is derived from the Italian soda, a term applied in the Middle Ages to all alkalis.
Its symbol, Na, stands for natron.
The same year, Davy assigns to the oxide of aluminae the name aluminum.
(Soon thereafter, the name will be changed to aluminium to reflect the -ium suffix of standard naming conventions, but the United States will drops the second ‘i’ in 1925.)
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