Alkali metal
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alkali metals are the chemical elements in group one of the periodic system. They are silver-coloured, soft and have only one electron in the outermost shell. They like to make reactions in which they give up this single electron and then have a charge of +1. They react strongly with water and because of this, they have to be stored in petrol. In nature they are never found in the elemental form, but they usually exist oxidised. Alkali metals are the first group in the periodic table. They are never found in nature uncombined making them unstable and they react fast to other elements. And they bond well with all elements except the noble gases. Alkali metals have a balanced amount of protons and electrons. They have a few valence electrons.
Alkali metals are: Lithium (Li), Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), Rubidium (Rb), Cesium (Cs), and Francium (Fr).
Sodium is the most important alkali metal. One of the most important salts of sodium is sodium chloride (NaCl) (common 'table salt').
It also forms a hydroxide, sodium hydroxide (NaOH), which is commonly called 'caustic soda'. It is a very strong base. It is produced in the Nelson Cell or in the Mercury Cathode Cell (Castner Kellner Cell) by the electrolysis of aqueous NaCl.