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Potassium: Float Into Water With Which It Reacts Instantly To Release Hydrogen, Which Burns With A Lilac Flame

Potassium is a soft, silvery-white metal that is a member of the alkali group. It derives its name from potash and its chemical symbol K comes from the Latin word for potash. Potassium oxidizes rapidly in air and must be stored under oil or grease to prevent tarnishing. Most applications of potassium involve using it in fertilizers, while the rest is used to make potassium hydroxide and carbonate, which have uses in glass and soap manufacturing.

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36 views

Potassium: Float Into Water With Which It Reacts Instantly To Release Hydrogen, Which Burns With A Lilac Flame

Potassium is a soft, silvery-white metal that is a member of the alkali group. It derives its name from potash and its chemical symbol K comes from the Latin word for potash. Potassium oxidizes rapidly in air and must be stored under oil or grease to prevent tarnishing. Most applications of potassium involve using it in fertilizers, while the rest is used to make potassium hydroxide and carbonate, which have uses in glass and soap manufacturing.

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malaomar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Potassium

The name is derived from the


english word potash. The
chemical symbol K comes
from kalium, the Mediaeval Latin
for potash, which may have
derived from the arabic
word qali, meaning alkali.
Potassium is a soft, silvery-white
metal, member of the alkali
group of the periodic chart.
Potassium is silvery when first
cut but it oxidizes rapidly in air
and tarnishes within minutes, so
it is generally stored under oil or
grease. It is light enough to
float into water with which it
reacts instantly to release
hydrogen, which burns with
a lilac flame.
The chemistry of potassium is
almost etirely that of the
potassium ion, K+.
Applications
Most potassium (95 %) goes
into fertilizers and the rest goes
mainly into making potassium
hydroxide (KOH), by the
electrolysis of potassium chloride
solution, and then converting
this to potassium carbonate
(K2CO3). Potassium carbonate
goes into glass manufacture,
expecially the glass used to
make televisions, while
potassium hydroxide is used to
make liquid soaps and
detergents. A little potassium
chloride goes into
pharmaceuticals, medical drips

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