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Lithium, the lightest of the alkali metals, is the only alkali metal which reacts with nitrogen at standard conditions, and its nitride is the only stable alkali metal nitride. Nitrogen is an unreactive gas because breaking the strong triple bond in the dinitrogen molecule (N 2 ) requires a lot of energy.
In chemistry, an alkali (/ ˈælkəlaɪ /; 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. The adjective alkaline, and less often, alkalescent, is commonly ...
The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the elements, is an ordered arrangement of the chemical elements into rows (" periods ") and columns (" groups "). It is an icon of chemistry and is widely used in physics and other sciences. It is a depiction of the periodic law, which states that when the elements are arranged in order ...
The most reactive kind of metallic element is an alkali metal of group 1 (e.g., sodium or potassium); this is because such an atom has only a single valence electron. During the formation of an ionic bond , which provides the necessary ionization energy , this one valence electron is easily lost to form a positive ion (cation) with a closed ...
The alkali metal polysulfides arise by treatment of a solution of the sulfide with elemental sulfur, e.g. sodium sulfide to sodium polysulfide: S 2− + n S → S 2− n+1. In some cases, these anions have been obtained as organic salts, which are soluble in organic solvents. [4]
Alkalide. An alkalide is a chemical compound in which alkali metal atoms are anions (negative ions) with a charge or oxidation state of −1. Until the first discovery of alkalides in the 1970s, [1][2][3] alkali metals were known to appear in salts only as cations (positive ions) with a charge or oxidation state of +1. [4]
Reactivity is a somewhat vague concept in chemistry. It appears to embody both thermodynamic factors and kinetic factors (i.e., whether or not a substance reacts, and how fast it reacts). Both factors are actually distinct, and both commonly depend on temperature. For example, it is commonly asserted that the reactivity of alkali metals (Na, K ...
Davy was a pioneer in the field of electrolysis using the voltaic pile to split common compounds and thus prepare many new elements. He went on to electrolyse molten salts and discovered several new metals, including sodium and potassium, highly reactive elements known as the alkali metals.