Friday, October 4, 2013

General Characteristics of Alkali Metals


  •  Alkali metals are shiny, silver colored metals.
  • Alkali metals are very soft. Example; Lithium can be cut with a knife. Potassium can be squashed like soft butter. 
  • They tend to donate their electrons in reactions and often have an oxidation state of +1.
  • Alkali metals have low melting point and boiling point. Example : cesium melting just above the room temperature.
  • The last metal of this group francium is radioactive.
  • Alkali metals are found in nature, but not in their pure form.
  • The softness and low melting points of the alkali metals can be attributed to very weak metallic bonding in these elements.

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