Alkali metals

Question	Answer
Properties	Alkali metals are in Group 1 of the periodic table
Alkali metals are soft and can be cut with a knife	They have comparatively low melting points (easy to melt)
Reactions with water	Alkali metals are all in the same group of the periodic table so they all have similar reactions
They all have one electron in the outer shell	When they react each atom looses one electron to become an ion with a +1 charge
All alkali metals react with water to form a metal hydroxide and hydrogen gas.	Metal hydroxide solutions are alkaline Lithium + water > lithium hydroxide + hydrogen
Reactivity	The reactivity of the alkali metals increases down the group when they are put in water
Lithium floats on the surface and fizzes Potassium reacts even faster and the hydrogen produced burns with a lilac flame	Sodium melts from the heat produced by the reaction and whizzes around on the surface as a molten ball, and sometimes the hydrogen produced catches fire

Resource summary

	Created by Millie Smith about 7 years ago