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But again, that sodium and potassium is not actually metallic. Sodium and potassium, for example, are essential nutrients for humans and plants alike. Found Commonly?Īlkali metals also take the form of ions when they are inside living things. They are so strong that even the usual methods of smelting could never coax their metallic forms from their oxides or from the touch of aluminosilicate minerals in which they appear in great abundance. What this means is that nonmetals like oxygen, for example, can very easily react with alkali metals to form ionic metal-oxide materials-and the ionic bonds that they form are very strong. (Image: Bjoern Wylezich/Shutterstock)Īnd for the alkali metals, it’s very easy: this group accounts for six of the eight lowest first-ionization energies of all elements. Chemists measure how difficult it is to remove an electron in terms of how much electrochemical energy must be put into a system to pull the outermost electron away from the neutral metal atom.Īlkali metals such as lithium are very stubborn when it comes to taking their metallic form. Removal of that outermost electron gives an alkali metal an octet, but also creates a positively charged ion that strongly prefers to hide in compounds with other elements. But group 1 metals like lithium, sodium, and potassium are more stubborn when it comes to taking their metallic form. And, there are other metals that can be fairly easily isolated from their oxides by heating them in a coal furnace. Some metals can and very often do appear in nature as pure metals. (Image: PK Designs/Shutterstock) Alkali Metals React Easily

The name of alkali metals is linked to the Arabic expression for wood ash that has been heated in the absence of oxygen. So the inspiration for the name of the entire alkali metal group is this simple waste product at the end of a wood fire-ashes. The word ‘alkali’ comes from the Arabic expression for wood ash that has been heated in the absence of oxygen to remove impurities.

When they react with water, they form strong bases, called alkalines. Davis Jr., Georgetown University Compounds containing sodium and potassium are very common.