Sodium vs. Potassium

Main Difference

The main difference between Sodium and Potassium is that Sodium is a white chemical element that combines with other chemicals, whereas Potassium usually happens in compounds.

Difference Between Sodium and Potassium

Comparison Chart

Sodium vs. Potassium

Sodium is an important element for human metabolism, while potassium controls the blood pressure and relaxes the blood vessel’s walls. Cornflakes has 266 mg Sodium. The potassium in cornflakes is 33 mg. French bread can contain 82 mg Sodium. The potassium in French bread is 416 mg. Fast food has 444 mg of Sodium. Fast food has 1176 mg of Potassium. Milk contains 336 mg of Sodium. The potassium found in milk is 107 mg.

Peanut and butter without salt have 208% Sodium. Peanut and butter without salt have 5% Potassium. Sodium first chemical abbreviation came in 1814. Firstly, Sir Humphrey davy in 1807 introduced the world to Potassium.

Sodium has atomic number 11, atomic weight 22.99, boiling point 892°C, and special gravity 0.971. Potassium has Atomic number 19, atomic weight 39.102, boiling point 774°C and special gravity 0.862.

What is Sodium?

Sodium is also known as ‘Salt.’ The word Sodium derived from the Arabic word ‘soda’ means ‘headache.’ Mostly the Roman called it ‘salary,’ and this word is derived from ‘solarium.’ In Latin, Sodium is known as ‘sodium.’ The German chemist in 1809 Ludwig Wilhelm Gilbert gives it the name of nitronium.

Sodium color display an effective orange light. It is a greater malleable metallic element that reacts with water. It is the sixth most sufficient element on the surface. You can highly use it like a chemical reagent and raw material. It is a good supporter of metallurgy, heat transformation, and sodium-vapor lamps, etc.

You can found it in the bicarbonate of soda, caustic soda, sodium nitrate, and sodium chloride. Sodium carbonate is the fourth basic element used to make cleansers. Sodium hypochlorite performs as household bleach and helps to bleach paper pulp and textiles and to chlorinate water.

Sodium carbonate also uses in medicines. The sulfate helps in kraft procedures to create paperboard. The thiosulfate comes to take photographs. Examples of sodium are Rock salt (Halite) NaCl, Chile salt NaNa3, the Fleur de sol, the Himalayan pink salt, the Kosher salt, the MonoSodium glutamate, etc.

What is Potassium?

Potassium is an important element for the human body. It plays an important role in making us healthy. In 1880 and 1890, the world researched Potassium. Potassium controls the blood pressure and relaxes the blood vessel’s walls. A human body uses 4700 million gram Potassium in a day.

The man mostly uses 3000 mg/day, and women use 2300 mg/day. But Potassium may cause dangerous for older adults. We can get potassium from Potatoes, Lima beans, Peas, Tomatoes, and oranges, etc. This soft silvery element helps to make glass, soap, and fertilizers.

You can get it from the electrolysis of its common hydroxide and change it to several kinds of salts, especially for fertilizers. Especially, we can find it in seawater, carnallite, kainite, and sylvite. It mostly not comes free and sometimes used as a metal due to its reaction.

Potassium is the basic element of life and occurs almost in all soils. Potassium ions and sodium ions act at cell membranes in electrochemical impulse transmission and transport. The hydroxide supports to make liquid soaps and detergents. The iodide comes to table salt to secure from iodine shortage.

Conclusion

Sodium and Potassium both are vital elements for animal and plant existence. We can judge their difference by size and weight.