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The alkali metals dissolve slowly in liquid ammonia, forming ammoniacal solutions of solvated metal cation M + and solvated electron e −, which react to form hydrogen gas and the alkali metal amide (MNH 2, where M represents an alkali metal): this was first noted by Humphry Davy in 1809 and rediscovered by W
Rubidium is also used as an ingredient in special types of glass, in the production of superoxide by burning in oxygen, in the study of potassium ion channels in biology, and as the vapor in atomic magnetometers. [59] In particular, 87 Rb is used with other alkali metals in the development of spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) magnetometers. [59]
Their history spans over centuries, from the ancient use of sodium and potassium salts to the ongoing attempts to make the elusive element 119. All five stable alkali metals have important applications, with sodium and potassium being essential elements for life.
It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly reactive and flammable, and must be stored in vacuum, inert atmosphere, or inert liquid such as purified kerosene [7] or mineral oil. It exhibits a metallic luster.
A once-common use was the making of tetraethyllead and titanium metal; because of the move away from TEL and new titanium production methods, the production of sodium declined after 1970. [60] Sodium is also used as an alloying metal, an anti-scaling agent, [71] and as a reducing agent for metals when other materials are ineffective.
Gallium readily alloys with most metals, and is used as an ingredient in low-melting alloys. The nearly eutectic alloy of gallium, indium , and tin is a room temperature liquid used in medical thermometers.
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In chemistry, an alkali (/ ˈ æ l k ə l aɪ /; from the Arabic word al-qāly, القلوي) is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0.