Question

The symbol of Na represents the element:
(A) Nitrogen
(B) Nickel
(C) Sodium
(D) Potassium

Answer 1

Hint: (1) By the term element, we mean a pure substance which cannot be broken down further by any chemical means.
(2) In chemistry, a symbol is used as an abbreviation to describe an element.
Complete step-by-step answer: In chemistry, the symbols for the chemical elements generally consist of one or two letters from the Latin alphabet. These element symbols are written with the first letter capitalized. From the periodic table, we can find out which symbol represents which element. Thus, we see that: the atomic symbol or the element symbol used to denote nitrogen is N. The atomic symbol or element symbol used to denote nickel is Ni, the atomic symbol or element symbol used to denote sodium is Na and the atomic symbol or element symbol used to denote potassium is K. So, the symbol of Na doesn’t represent the elements nitrogen or nickel or potassium. The symbol of Na represents the element sodium. So, option (A), option (B) and option (D) are not correct for the given question. So, the correct option is (C).
Additional information: In addition to these letters from the Latin alphabet, extra details can also be added to element symbols. These extra details are added as subscripts or superscripts of a particular isotope, oxidation state etc. Some isotopes have their own symbols instead of isotopic details added to the symbol of the element.
The following are the meanings of the subscripts and superscripts added to the element symbols to specify a molecule:
1. The mass number or the nucleon number is displayed in the left superscript position (e.g., $$ $$ ${}^{{\text{14}}}{\text{N,}}{}^{{\text{23}}}{\text{Na}}$ etc.). This number in the left superscript represents the specific isotope of that element.
2. The atomic number or the proton number is displayed in the left subscript position (e.g., ${}_{\text{7}}{\text{N,}}{}_{{\text{11}}}{\text{Na}}$ etc.). This number defines the number of protons in the element.
3. In addition to these, the ionization state can also be displayed in the right superscript position if necessary (e.g., ${\text{M}}{{\text{g}}^{{\text{2 + }}}}$).
4. The number of elements present in a molecule or compound is displayed in the right subscript position (e.g., ${{\text{N}}_{\text{2}}}$ or ${\text{N}}{{\text{a}}_{\text{2}}}$). If this number is 1, it is omitted.
Note: In general, an element can be represented as: ${}_Z^AX$. Here, X is the chemical symbol for the element, A is the mass number and Z is the atomic number. For e.g., sodium is represented as: ${}_{{\text{11}}}^{{\text{23}}}{\text{Na}}$.