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Alkali MetalsBy: Emily Brewer, Brianna Cable, Brennan Bedford

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Alkali Metals Potassium o Origin: Potassium gets its name from the English

word potash. Its symbol, K, comes from its Latin word ‘kalium’. This comes from the Arab word ‘alqail’, which means ‘to roast’.

o Number of electrons: 19 o Number of protons: 19o This element was is found in nature, but is

always attached to another element. o It was discovered by Sir Humphry Davy in 1807.

Emily Brewer 5-2Sir Humphry Davy

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Common Uses

o Explosives (fireworks, gunpowder…etc…)o Cotton dyeso Helps matches burno Heat transfer (with sodium)o Fertilizers

A mixture of potassium nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal creates gunpowder.

Potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen form fertilizers.

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Fun Facts About Potassium

o Makes up 31% of the Earth’s crust.o No scento Reacts violently with watero Never found in nature in pure formo Aids in the function of the nerveso Key factor in heart function and the

skeletal system.

Potassium reacting with water.

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Bibliography Dingle, Adrian. The Periodic Table. Boston: Kingfisher, 2007Woodford, Chris. Potassium. New York: Benchmark Books, 2003

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Alkali Metals: Sodium/Na

• Origin: Sodium has been known for a long time in the form of soda. The term ‘soda’ was used by Humphry Davy. He isolated it in 1807. Sodium’s Latin name is Natrium, which is where the symbol Na comes from.

• Number of protons:11• Number of electrons: 11

Brianna Cable 5-3

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Alkali Metals: Sodium/Na

• Common Uses: Toothpaste, Cooking, Preserving foods, Glass, Salt (sodium chloride) which is the most common and recognized use for sodium.

Brianna Cable 5-3

This is a picture of a 50 pound salt block. Each pound is only 10¢, and the entire thing only costs $5.00.Interesting fact:

our bodies contain about 3.5 ounces of salt.

Sodium gives street lights their orange glow.

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Alkali Metals: Sodium/ NaInteresting facts!

• Sodium doesn’t occur by itself in nature as a metal because it is so reactive. It is so reactive that it will explode into flames on contact with water.

• Sodium is relatively common on the Earth and is the most common of all the elements in Group 1.

• It is the fourth most abundant element on the planet, and makes up 2.6% of Earth’s crust. Name and ABC#

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Resources

• O’Daly, Anne. Sodium. New York: Benchmark books; 2002

• Dingle, Adrian. The Periodic Table. Boston, Massachusetts: Kingfisher, 2007

Brianna Cable 5-3

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Alkali Metals Francium

• Origin: Francium gets its name from France.

• Number of electrons: 87• Number of protons: 87• This element was discovered by

Marguerite Perey in 1939 in nature.• This element has no uses because it

has a very short life and it’s found uranium minerals.

Brennan Bedford 5-1

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Alkali Metals Francium

This is a picture of a mineral that contains uranium and thorium that

produce francium in small quantities from radioactive decay chains.

Brennan Bedford 5-1

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Alkali Metals Francium

This picture shows uranium ore which holds 100,000 elements of francium.

Brennan Bedford 5-1

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Fun Facts About Francium

• There is less than only 30 grams of francium in the entire Earth’s crust.

• Properties are very similar to those of cesium.

• Most reactive alkali metal in group one.

• Has a half-life of 22 minutes• Very radioactive metal.• Within 22 minutes it quickly decays

into other elements.• Longest-lived isotope. Brennan Bedford 5-1

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Alkali Metals

They all have a single electron in the outer shell, very reactive, softness, color of silver, shininess, low density; Classification: metallic.

Brennan Bedford 5-1

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Resources

Gray, Theodor. 2005. Ebay. 6 May 2014. www.periodictable.com

Brennan Bedford 5-1